Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Roberts Praises the Growth of Will Smith as a Big Leaguer

On Tuesday, Dave Roberts did not hold back when talking about Dodgers’ future All-Star catcher Will Smith. After being asked about his first impression or earliest memories with Will Smith, Dave Roberts was very quick to praise the Dodgers catcher.

I think the first thing that I learned about Will, is that he’s very observant and he’s very calm. Watching what major league players do and how they work, speaks to his ability to observe and willingness to observe, and then the calmness, there is not panic.



For the position that Smith is in, it is important that he is always a calm presence. As a catcher, Smith needs to always be focused and ready for what could happen at any moment, and according to Doc, he has accomplished that.

Whether it’s catching or blocking a ball with bases loaded, it’s putting the right fingers down, it’s in the batters box in a big spot. Those two things for me were things I could easily bet on being a big-league ballplayer and then the physicality, the work ethic, the athleticism, all that stuff, certainly are great ingredients. 

Not only as a catcher, but when it comes to hitting, Smith has had a major impact on this team. Smith currently has the second-most home runs for the Dodgers (23) this season. Dave Roberts also spoke about how Smith has been able to see the ball so well this season.

To Will’s credit, he and our hitting guy, Robert Van Scoyoc…worked together in the winter and kind of overhauled his swing and so that made him a much more dangerous hitter.

Just one more thing that makes Will Smith an all-around, excellent player, especially in Dave Robert’s eyes. With a .879 OPS, it is no wonder why Doc is so impressed with Smith, especially throughout this season.

I think that the power is one part of it, where he’s understood his swing…but the other part is that he gets on base and he can drive runs in and that’s the name of the game.

The Dodgers head coach sees a lot of value in keeping Will Smith around and even if he doesn’t hit a dinger every time he is at-bat, he is still able to get on base, which is huge for any major league player. Roberts continued and made sure to tell everyone what kind of future he sees in Will Smith.

Now what we see here is offensively, defensively, in my opinion, he’s one of the top one, two, or three catchers in baseball. If we lookout in the next three to five years, he’ll be the best catcher in all of baseball, so we’re lucky to have him and he’s only going to get better.

Given these points, made by Doc, it’s safe to say that Will Smith is going to continue to play a major role for the Dodgers.

NEXT: Max Scherzer Credits LA’s Offense for His Win Streak

10 Comments

  1. Please stay healthy…Smith is a rock in our lineup…currently, more dependable than Taylor or Muncy!

  2. Will Smith will become Dodgers Johnny Bench of the old Big Red machine Cincinnati 70

  3. Barnes is better defensively and framing but we need Wills bat in there for the rest of the season.

  4. When he was compared to Buster Posey his first year, you knew we had something! It only gets better from here.

    Now, if Smith can work with hitting coach Von Scoyoc, then Bellinger can too!

    1. Yes but Bellinger doesn’t appear fixable this year. Hopefully there will be a DH next year and Will Smith can get days off from catching now and then and still be in middle of lineup where he belongs..

      1. Too bad Bellinger isn’t like bonds. Whenever Bonds hit a funk he consulted his dad to get his swing corrected. Problem is IMO, Bellingers dad wasn’t much of a hitter either,…

  5. Barnes better be prepared for a pink slip after the season is over, because he does not like playing 2nd string. The only thing he can do at this point is frame. He is not a pinch hitter and CK will be gone at the end of this season also.

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