Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Will Smith Continues to Come Up Clutch, and He Did it Again

Measuring a player’s ability to come up in a clutch situation is tough. There are plenty of metrics used to try and measure pressure situations, but sometimes it just seems like a player has IT. That’s what it looks like with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

Will came up in a big spot once again on Saturday night. The Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the 8th of a tied game. All he needed to do was get the ball into the air deep enough to bring in the runner. Instead, he brought in 2.



Smith laced a base hit to give the Dodgers the 4-2 lead and eventually seal the win. After the game, he was asked to try and identify why he has been so good in big situations. Smith cited his lack of fear of failure as one big reason.

I feel pretty confident in those situations. I’ve had a lot of success. I feel like I’m not afraid to fail in that moment. I feel like it’s going to happen. I’m able to stick to my approach, swing at the right pitches, not expand out of the zone, put a good swing on the ball, and good things will happen.

Those 2 runs gave Smith 64 RBI’s on the year through 106 games played. That’s good for 4th on the team despite sort of sharing catching duties with Austin Barnes. He has also helped to carry the offense at points in the season, including a hot month of August. 

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Will Smith is very good at baseball, we all know that. But he just brings an extra edge to the team with his ability to hit in big spots. That’s how the legends make their mark on the game. 

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7 Comments

  1. Thank goodness for Will, he’s truly been CLUTCH and holding this team together offensively. Pollock and Smith have been incredible. Where would this team be without either…

    1. He has great power too and tied for 2nd on the team in HR’s. If only we had a DH, Smith could get time off from catching when Barnes starts and big Will,’s bat can remain in middle of lineup. But no, MLB has these unfair playing rules with NL pitchers having to bat while the AL teams have that extra hitter in their lineups. Today since it’s a day game after a night game Smith likely doesn’t start. SMH.

    2. Agree. Will, defensively, is probably an above average catcher defensively. He could be a better framer but with the electronic strike zone eventually coming that will be a moot point. His drop and block is pretty decent but where he gets dinged is his ability to throw out runners which is not his fault. I believe his pop time is very good but the pitchers are extremely slow in their delivery to the plate which allows the runners to get to 2nd base with plenty of time. Watch Jensen and Bickford. Jensen just has a slow motion delivery and holds the ball back. Bickford maintains his high leg kick. I could probably wheelchair my grandmother to 2nd base with amount of time Jensen takes in his delivery. Also, watch Posey. He consistently throws way to the right side of 2nd base so that the runner runs into the tag. Will has the tools to become great

  2. Since Will Smith won’t start todays game, the Dodgers will struggle to score runs i.e. automatic-outs Barnes, Bellinger, McKinney, pitcher. Smith Should be playing more except when he catches all-extra-innings of a game.

  3. This team is starting to resemble last years postseason run. Smith had some big moments. Bellinger had a poor season but also got some big hits, hopefully he can make up for another bad season again this October

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