Dodgers News: Will Smith Improving, Could Return This Week
The Dodgers have been without Will Smith for almost two weeks now. The catcher has been on the 7-day injured list dealing with concussion symptoms stemming from a few foul bats hit into his face mask in a series in San Francisco earlier this month. While he’s been sidelined, the Dodgers have floundered, playing mostly .500-ish baseball and getting no offense from the catcher position.
Thankfully, things are pointing in the right direction for a return this week.
Speaking with reporters on Sunday, manager Dave Roberts had a solid update on Smitty.
“Symptom free yesterday,” Roberts said on Sunday. “Today, same. So I still stand by, I don’t see him playing in the next series and then we’ll see when we get home.”
While he’s not going to return for the upcoming three-game series against Pittsburgh, it sounds like there’s a chance Smith is back when the Dodgers take on the St. Louis Cardinals in Los Angeles this weekend.
Considering the nature of head/brain injuries, and the fact that up until recently Will had been experiencing lingering headaches, the team wants to exercise caution with the catcher to avoid any setbacks down the road.
“It’s just my coach’s hat is on,” Roberts said, “and I think there’s some things that he needs to do to feel confident that we’re not going to regress, I want to put him in the best position to have success and not just run him out there. I think it’s great that he feels good.”
Smith is hitting .333 with 3 home runs and 12 runs batted in this season. He’s hit 75 homers in his career and has a lifetime batting average of .263 in parts of 5 big league seasons.
When Will Comes Back, They All Come Back
The Dodgers could be getting a fair bit healthy by the time they get back to Los Angeles on Friday. Not only could we see the return of Smith, but shortstop Miguel Rojas is also expected to be activated from the 10-day IL.
Max Muncy and Brusdar Graterol would also both return from the paternity list after missing the series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh this week. That would make the Dodgers as healthy/fully-loaded as they’ve been since the beginning of the season — and maybe even more so with the return of Tony Gonsolin.
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