Will Smith Not in Dodgers Lineup for Friday’s Game vs Tigers on His Birthday
The Los Angeles Dodgers have revealed their lineup for Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, and in a bit of a surprise, All-Star catcher Will Smith is not in there.
Smith is celebrating his 30th birthday on Friday, but won’t be catching Yoshinobu Yamamoto behind the plate.
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Austin Barnes is catching and batting ninth in his place. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is scheduled to speak to reporters soon and should provide an update on Smith’s status.
Dodgers Lineup vs Tigers on Friday
Why Isn’t Will Smith Playing for Dodgers?
Smith was banged up early in camp as he was dealing with an ankle issue. Roberts later revealed Smith had a bone bruise, and had been dealing with it since last June when he rolled his ankle sliding.
Smith’s injury lingered through the end of the season and into the offseason, and just never got better. Smith said it was just something he was going to have to deal with this year.
“You can do all sorts of treatment and everything,” Smith said earlier this spring, “but the only thing that really heals it is rest. We’re looking more into why maybe it’s not going away. Sometimes it just takes a while.”
While it’s unknown if the Dodgers are just trying to monitor Smith, it is interesting that he’s getting a day off Friday after playing one game on Thursday, and the team having another off day on Sunday.
Either way, Roberts is scheduled to speak to reporters at 3:20 p.m. PT, and should reveal the reasoning behind Smith’s day off.
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Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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