Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing shouldered the blame after the Chicago White Sox’s explosive sixth inning in Sunday’s loss.
Starter Emmet Sheehan and the Dodgers entered the inning with a 1-0 lead, but things quickly spiraled out of control for LA. Sheehan allowed a solo homer to Sam Antonacci, the first batter he saw, then allowed concurrent hits which gave the hosts the lead.
“You still stick to, one, what your pitcher is good at first of all,” Rushing said. “And two, kind of pitch around what the hitter is good at. Like I said, I thought we did a fine job with that. Their leadoff guy jumped on a pitch that he historically isn’t great against. But he put a good swing on the ball and sadly it didn’t go our way. They made a few adjustments as an offense and exposed me personally.”
The right-hander came out afterwards, making room for left-handed reliever Jack Dreyer, but the White Sox managed to drive in four more runs via two two-run homers to extend their lead to five runs. The Dodgers made an effort to come back in the late innings, but couldn’t make up the difference by the end of the ninth.
“It seems as if they’re kind of selling out a little bit to an extent,” Rushing said of hitters facing Dreyer. “Last year, he was able to keep them in between by putting at least two pitches in the zone. … It sucks, though. You never want to see a pitcher go through a rough stretch.”
Has Dalton Rushing Been Good This Season?
Rushing has stepped in as the Dodgers’ starting catcher after Will Smith landed on the injured list with a neck issue, and has proven himself as a valuable player in that role.
The second-year catcher still has great numbers after his electric start to the year, posting an .881 OPS through 40 games this season. He has eight homers and 21 RBIs this year, as well as an elite .521 slugging percentage.
On top of his solid defensive displays, Rushing has been good behind the plate as well. He has been working with Roki Sasaki all season and helped him become the confident starter he has been over the last month, and fell just four outs short of catching a perfect game on Saturday.
The Dodgers will hope Rushing can continue to adapt and learn as their starter for the time being, as he is sure to be a key piece of this Dodgers team for a long time to come.
How have you felt about Rushing’s performances since he became the starter?
2 Responses
I think that Rushing has been terrible at striking out with men on base too often the last few games. The could have won yesterday if he put the ball in play instead of taking pitches down the middle.
I think Rushing is doing a good job with everything but his supposedly off camera behavior. He needs to be spoken to and told that you never know who is watching and his behavior ALWAYS because he already has bad rep.