{"id":493435,"date":"2026-10-12T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/493435\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:48:16","slug":"will-smith-is-in-a-slump-but-benching-him-isnt-an-option-for-dodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/493435\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Smith is in a slump, but benching him isn’t an option for Dodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MILWAUKEE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers<\/a> have a big hole in the middle of their batting order, and it\u2019s not Shohei Ohtani<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If anything, Ohtani has reemerged as an offensive force in the cleanup spot, singling, walking and scoring the Dodgers\u2019 only run Sunday in a 2-1 loss<\/a> to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem is with the guy hitting in front of Ohtani.<\/p>\n

Will Smith walked in four plate appearances, marking just the second time he\u2019s reached base in the postseason. In the four division series games against the Atlanta Braves, he had a single in 16 at-bats, striking out seven times. He\u2019s hitting .053 in the playoffs \u2014 only Cleveland\u2019s \u00c1ngel Mart\u00ednez<\/a> has a lower average among players with at least nine at-bats.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s not much the Dodgers can do about it. They are built to win with pitching and Smith, the catcher, is the guy they rely on to guide those pitchers through games.<\/p>\n

Dalton Rushing<\/a>, who started just five fewer games behind the plate than Smith this season, is injured and not on the roster. Hunter Feduccia<\/a>, who did make the team, caught just 15 complete games this season and isn\u2019t an option to start in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to put Feduccia in place of Will Smith,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said. \u201cThat\u2019s just not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Roberts and the Dodgers are left to muddle on with Smith regardless of how much he struggles offensively. That\u2019s because he\u2019s far more valuable crouching behind the plate than standing next to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know how he\u2019s performing offensively,\u201d said Tarik Skubal<\/a>, who took the loss Sunday. \u201cCatchers, I think it\u2019s the most important position on the field. They\u2019re the ones calling pitches, dictating game flow, rhythm, all that type of stuff. I\u2019m going to trust those guys always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith appears to be executing his catching duties very well, since opponents have scored just 10 runs and are hitting .160 against the Dodgers this postseason. Only Tampa Bay, which has played two fewer games, has done better.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

As for what Smith thinks, that\u2019s unknown because the Dodgers did not make him available to the media Sunday. But since he\u2019s not coming out of the lineup, the next-best solution might be moving him to another spot in the order.<\/p>\n

That worked with Ohtani, who had as many strikeouts as hits in the first two games of the division series, when he batted second. Since being dropped in the order, he has reached base four times in three games, stolen a base and scored twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always lineup construction. I can think it through. He\u2019s not swinging the bat well,\u201d Roberts said of Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s hard because of the body of work, he just has that knack to get a hit, to get a big hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what happened last fall when Smith\u2019s two-out, 11th-inning home run in Game 7 of the World Series<\/a> helped the Dodgers win a second straight title<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Smith was on the injured list for 86 days this summer because of neck disk inflammation, returning for the final month when he slashed .290\/.400\/.548. He has cooled off considerably in October, just as he did last year, when he returned from a right hand contusion three games into the playoffs and got just two hits in his first 14 at-bats.<\/p>\n

He recovered to bat .400 in last year\u2019s NLCS win over Milwaukee, then broke a 4-4 tie with his winning homer against the Toronto Blue Jays. Just as important, though, Smith caught all but 11 innings in the Dodgers\u2019 final 15 postseason games \u2014 including two 11-inning games and another that lasted 18 innings.<\/p>\n

Smith rarely has hit well in the postseason, batting just .206 in 18 series, which may explain Roberts\u2019 lack of panic. Plus, Roberts knows his All-Star catcher has helped him win three World Series rings, and if the Dodgers are to get another, it will be on the strength of their pitching, not their hitting.<\/p>\n

And that side of Smith\u2019s game is as strong as ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, that\u2019s not where my focus is with Will,\u201d Skubal said of his catcher\u2019s hitting. \u201cMy focus is what he\u2019s doing behind the dish and he\u2019s very important. He\u2019s very important to the entire pitching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Dodgers have a big hole in the middle of their batting order, and it\u2019s not Shohei Ohtani.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7203,110146,42333,426,423,6135,1049,48,52,51,47,50,49,8841,4122,2504,424,17027,422,427,3578],"class_list":["post-493435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-base","tag-batting-order","tag-catcher","tag-dodgers","tag-game","tag-guy","tag-hit","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-playoff","tag-postseason","tag-regular-season","tag-roberts","tag-second-time","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-team","tag-will-smith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}