Dodgers catcher Will Smith has a hairline fracture in his proper hand and is uncertain to return earlier than the tip of the common season, in response to supervisor Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers are “hopeful” Smith will probably be out there for the postseason, however whether or not he will probably be prepared for the very begin of the playoffs — which seemingly will probably be Sept. 30 — stays “up in the air,” Roberts mentioned.
Smith, the three-time All-Star catcher who led the Nationwide League in batting common within the first half of the season earlier than slumping by way of August, first received damage when a foul ball hit his dangling throwing hand behind the plate on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh.
After lacking the Dodgers’ subsequent 5 video games, he returned to the beginning lineup on Sept. 9 in opposition to the Colorado Rockies, and doubled in his first at-bat. Nonetheless, the 30-year-old was a late scratch from the lineup the subsequent day after his hand swelled up, and was positioned on the injured record final weekend in San Francisco.
Initially, each an X-ray and an MRI on Smith’s hand got here again clear, which is why the Dodgers allowed him to return to motion as quickly as they did. However his damage lingered and the Dodgers despatched him again for an additional MRI on the finish of this previous week.
This time, the scan confirmed what each Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman described as a “small” fracture.
“It sounds like from the doctors that it’s so small and in such a small part of the hand that it didn’t show up initially but did on the subsequent [scan],” Friedman mentioned. “They seem to say [that] is common. I haven’t seen it, but I also haven’t seen a broken bone in that area very often. It makes sense why it was slow to rebound. I’m glad we have clarity on it. We’re going to do everything we can to strengthen and heal and get it back.”
Up to now, the Dodgers have managed with out Smith, who was batting .296 with 17 residence runs and 61 RBIs. Within the 14 video games he has missed since getting damage, the group is 8-6 and averaging greater than 5 runs per sport.
An enormous motive why: The emergence of journeyman substitute Ben Rortvedt, a minor-league addition on the commerce deadline who has come to the majors and produced capably as a fill-in for Smith and backup catcher Dalton Speeding (who missed 10 days this month after fouling a ball off his leg).
After becoming a member of the group as a profession .186 hitter in 4 MLB seasons, Rortvedt has batted .294 in 13 video games with the Dodgers with two doubles and two sacrifice bunts. Dodgers pitchers even have a 2.74 ERA with him behind the plate.
Even with Speeding wholesome once more, Roberts mentioned Rortvedt will seemingly get the “lion’s share” of enjoying time in Smith’s absence.
“The way he’s helped lead our pitching staff has been awesome,” Friedman mentioned. “He really has that servant leadership mentality behind the plate, which has really ingratiated himself with a lot of our pitchers.”
Nonetheless, to be at high kind, the Dodgers want Smith in the course of the batting order.
Friedman mentioned the group will preserve giving therapy to his hand till “he gets to a point where he doesn’t have symptoms, we’ll re-X-ray.”
“We’re optimistic that it’s going to heal quickly, but we’re at the mercy of how quickly that happens,” Friedman mentioned. “We don’t really know, but we’re optimistic it’ll be pretty fast.”
Graterol not anticipated again
It’s not a lot of a shock at this level, however the Dodgers will not be anticipating reliever Brusdar Graterol to return this season.
Graterol has not pitched this 12 months after an offseason shoulder surgical procedure, and his restoration “hasn’t gone as smoothly as he would like, as we would like,” Friedman mentioned.
“It’s been hard to kind of ramp up the volume that he would need to get back. My expectation is he will not be back this year.”
