Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith has been out for more than a month, but after some setbacks, he looks on track to finally come back.
Smith has been out since June with an inflamed disc in his neck, an injury that was not healing as Smith tried to keep doing baseball work.
However, after shutting him down for a week, Smith’s neck is seemingly responding well.
“He’s going to start his hitting progression today. My assumption is the cage and take some swings, but that is a good thing for Will,” Robets said before Friday’s game against the Red Sox.
In fact, Teoscar Hernandez said after Thursday’s game that Smith had been looking good in the clubhouse and broke the news that Smith was starting to hit the baseball soon.
Compared to Roberts’ tone just days ago, Smith seems to be doing a lot better.
“To be honest with you right now, I think that he’s taking at least a week of really doing no activity to hopefully calm his neck down,” Roberts said about Smith’s lack of progress.
“Early on, we’ve been trying to get him ready, moving around and doing some baseball stuff, but he hasn’t been able to get over the hump.”
In addition to his work hitting, Smith is also throwing baseballs and lifting weights, getting his body moving again and testing where his neck is at.
How will the Dodgers proceed without Smith
This news comes ahead of the trade deadline as the Dodgers were looking for a possible veteran catcher addition if Smith did not improve.
In terms of starting, Smith is currently not quite needed, as Dalton Rushing is excelling as he gets a lot more at-bats and time working with pitchers.
But Smith’s return would elevate the Dodgers’ catcher spot to one of the best in baseball once again, allowing Dave Roberts more flexibility to play matchups.
Come playoff time, there are few players in baseball more clutch than Smith, who excels when he is needed to do what he does best — put his bat on the baseball and put the ball in play.
One Response
The neck is a very tricky area to understand & treat regardless of what the experts or the Dodgers hope & think. They are lucky Rushing is playing so well. I think Will is paying the price for playing the entire playoff season. When he returns, the team needs to proceed very gingerly.