{"id":106904,"date":"2025-09-09T21:39:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T01:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=106904"},"modified":"2025-09-09T21:39:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T01:39:28","slug":"dodgers-all-star-catcher-will-smith-returns-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/09\/dodgers-all-star-catcher-will-smith-returns-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers All-Star Catcher Returns to Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers get a major boost tonight. Catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=smithwi05,smithwi04,smith-091wil,smith-088wil,smith-090wil,smith-094wil&amp;search=Will+Smith&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Will Smith<\/a> is back in the lineup tonight against the Colorado Rockies, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_99670\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-99670\" style=\"width: 519px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-99670\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Will Smith is back in the lineup as the Dodgers face the Pirates this weekend.\" width=\"519\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25990926_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-99670\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 20, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Will Smith Returns to Dodgers Lineup<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Will Smith is back in the Dodgers lineup.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FabianArdaya\/status\/1965535913569845714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Dodging a Bullet<\/h3>\n<p>Smith has <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/04\/dodgers-all-star-catcher\/\" target=\"_self\">missed<\/a> four games after taking a foul ball off his right hand last week in Pittsburgh. Although X-rays were negative, a CT scan revealed a deep bone bruise and prevented Smith from gripping a bat for a couple of days. Luckily, he was able to avoid the injured list. Backup catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rushida01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dalton Rushing<\/a> can feel his teammate&#8217;s pain. The rookie fouled a ball off his shin. Rushing had to be helped off the field a day later in Baltimore. Thankfully, his X-rays were also negative. However, Rushing&#8217;s bruise landed him on the 10-day IL. The Dodgers have not released a timeline for his return.<\/p>\n<h3>A Shot at the Batting Title<\/h3>\n<p>Smith had an incredible first half. He had a batting average that hovered close to .330, and an even more impressive one with runners in scoring position at nearly .400 early in the season. However, the wear and tear of being behind the plate has taken its toll. The All-Star catcher has insisted that his offensive downturn is due to a mechanical flaw in his swing. Still, Smith is batting .302 with 17 home runs and 61 runs batted in. The Dodgers could sure use Smith in first-half form, as they are eight games under .500 since July 3rd, largely due to the team&#8217;s inability to produce runs.<\/p>\n<h3>Is the Cavalry Finally Coming?<\/h3>\n<p>The news of Will Smith&#8217;s return comes a day after third baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=muncyma01,muncyma02&amp;search=Max+Muncy&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Muncy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/15\/dodgers-max-muncy-injured-list-oblique\/\" target=\"_self\">rejoined<\/a> the club after sustaining a ribcage injury. Left-handed reliever <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vesiaal01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Vesia<\/a> is also active tonight while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/caspabe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Casparius<\/a> was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edmanto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy Edman<\/a> is also<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/04\/dodgers-activate-max-muncy-tommy-edman-hits-il\/\" target=\"_self\"> due to rejoin<\/a> the Dodgers this week.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles needs to be healthy and effective if they are going to win the National League West and make it to October.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers get a major boost tonight. Catcher Will Smith is back in the lineup tonight against the Colorado Rockies, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Will Smith Returns to Dodgers Lineup Will Smith is back in the Dodgers lineup. \u2014 Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 9, 2025 Dodging a Bullet Smith has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":106777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071,35],"tags":[5180,28756,28402,2240,3899,305],"class_list":["post-106904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-alex-vesia","tag-ben-casparius","tag-dalton-rushing","tag-max-muncy","tag-tommy-edman","tag-will-smith"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106904"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106923,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106904\/revisions\/106923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}