Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Calls Will Smith the ‘Best Catcher in Baseball’
Sometimes in sports, there are players that just get overlooked for whatever reason. It could be due to the team that they play for, the fact that they are soft spoken or any number of reasons. For the Dodgers and baseball, that player is catcher Will Smith.
Smith has done everything asked of him since joining LA as their full-time catcher and over the last few seasons, he has turned himself into one of the best catchers in baseball — and if you ask his manager Dave Roberts, Smith is the best.
His ability to both hit the ball for power and contact is impressive and he always shows up.
“There’s obviously room for improvement,” Roberts said of Smith, “but we feel great about Will and I personally feel he’s the best catcher in baseball. This is a tall order, to hit in the middle of this order, and to catch a lot of different arms. It’s certainly a lot of guys who don’t have service time.”
Via OC Register
In 2021, Smith posted a .860 OPS with 25 home runs and 76 runs batted in. He finished the year with better numbers than all four other catchers that made the All-Star game that season.
Last season, Smith hit .260 with 24 home runs and 87 runs batted in. His numbers dipped a bit as the season went on but it was still an overly impressive year for him.
So far this season, he has 12 home runs with 41 runs batted in and he is hitting .286. Smith has never made an All-Star game and is currently in a fight with the Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy for the starting spot in this year’s game. This would be the year for him to be named the starter but once again, it seems that he may be falling behind others.
Sean Murphy currently leads Will Smith in All-Star Game voting.
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) June 27, 2023
Here's where Smith is better than Murphy this year:
WRC+, WAR, AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+, FLD%, BB%, K%.
They have the same amount of HR and Murphy has two more RBI.
The Dodgers catcher can't be robbed again.
Smith has been one of the more consistent catchers in the sport for a few seasons now. It’s one of the harder positions to play in baseball and he has executed it to his fullest power.
Even if Smith isn’t named as the All-Star starter, he likely will make the team as a reserve. And Smith is focused on winning games with the Dodgers anyway so he’s okay if he stays one of the best kept secrets around the league. Keep sleeping on him and he will keep making opposing teams and fans pay.
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