Dodgers Look to Maintain Will Smith’s Distinctive Manufacturing

In Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers don’t lack for superstars with potent bats, however thus far this season, Will Smith is swinging — and, notably, not swinging — nearly in addition to any of them. The 2-time All-Star catcher is off to an exceptionally sizzling begin, notably with runners in scoring place, and the Dodgers just lately shook up their roster with a watch in the direction of serving to him preserve a excessive stage of manufacturing later into the season.

The 30-year-old Smith is hitting .333/.456/.511, adequate to guide the NL in on-base share and to rank third in wRC+ (175) behind solely Freeman (191) and Ohtani (182). Usually batting forward of both Max Muncy or Michael Conforto — each of whom have struggled to this point this yr — he’s been pitched round to some extent, and he’s proven distinctive plate self-discipline:

Each Smith’s chase charge and stroll charge rank second within the NL; the previous is 4.6 share factors beneath his profession mark, whereas the latter is seven factors above. In line with Robert Orr’s SEAGER metric — a measure of how effectively a batter identifies and swings on the pitches in opposition to which he can do actual harm — Smith ranks within the 97th percentile this yr, effectively above even his earlier sturdy showings. As Baseball Prospectus 2025 summarized, “Smith’s superpower is that this: working the rely till he’s forward, then rigorously choosing errors or get-me-over pitches to drive into the outfield.”

What may be essentially the most exceptional side of Smith’s efficiency up to now is how effectively he’s hit with runners in scoring place, which he’s had no scarcity of given the massive weapons batting forward of him:

Holy smokes! It’s wild to take a look at the higher reaches of that leaderboard and see the huge variations in strikeout and stroll charges, from Hernández’s refusal to take a free cross to Kelly’s skill to keep away from swinging and lacking. However I digress. Amongst batters with a minimum of 40 plate appearances with runners in scoring place this season, Smith’s batting common ranks first, his on-base share second behind solely Decide, his wRC+ fourth, and his slugging share sixth. This isn’t precisely a fluke, as Smith owns a profession .304/.404/.495 (140 wRC+) mark in 829 PA with runners in scoring place since debuting in 2019. That wRC+ is 12 factors higher than his general mark — the league as an entire is usually about 5 factors forward — and the place he’s walked 11.1% of the time and struck out 18.5% general throughout his profession, these marks enhance to 13.9% and 15.9% with runners in scoring place.

I ought to level out that whereas that 12-point wRC+ hole is spectacular, it’s nowhere close to the excessive for this era. Amongst batters with 400 or extra PA with runners in scoring place for the reason that begin of 2019, Jonah Heim has the biggest hole, 40 factors (126 with RISP, 86 general). Amongst these with an general wRC+ of 100 or increased throughout that span, the biggest hole belongs to Garrett Cooper, 34 factors (141 with RISP, 107 general), and amongst these with an general wRC+ of 120 or increased throughout that span, it’s Smith’s teammate Hernández with the biggest hole, 26 factors (150 with RISP, 124 general).

Requested earlier than Saturday’s sport at Citi Area about what has made Smith and Hernández so profitable with runners in scoring place, supervisor Dave Roberts hit some old-school notes along with his reply:

“I feel that these days, guys simply don’t worth driving in a run and don’t know methods to get a base hit, and I feel these two guys are superb at it… I feel there’s an inevitable regression with these [batting average with runners in scoring position] numbers, however I nonetheless really feel that the intent, the main target, in these conditions will proceed.”

Past his distinctive plate self-discipline, Smith is swinging more durable and making higher contact. His common swing velocity of 69.5 mph is 1.6 mph sooner than final yr, although it nonetheless ranks in simply the sixteenth percentile, however his squared-up and blast charges have each improved (from 27.1% to 29.6% for the previous and from 8.7% to 12.9% for the latter). He’s gained 2.3 mph in exit velocity (from 89.4 mph to 91.7 mph), and each his 13.9% barrel charge and 48.1% hard-hit charge are profession bests. These final three figures all rank within the 77th to 84th percentiles.

As for cooling off typically, Smith isn’t any stranger to torrid begins and late fades, which most likely owe one thing to the cumulative put on and tear he sustains over the course of the season, if not greater accidents (he had a concussion in 2023, and a deep bone bruise in his left ankle final yr). Right here’s a have a look at what he’s accomplished by the Dodgers’ first 54 video games of the season in every of the previous 5 campaigns:

Contemplating that Smith posted a 121 wRC+ general from 2021–24, you will get a way of the extent to which his offense tailed off over the ultimate two-thirds of these seasons. Whereas he was on tempo to supply 17.1 WAR in these campaigns, even the 15.5 WAR he truly produced was nonetheless sufficient to nostril previous J.T. Realmuto for the key league lead amongst catchers.

Taking a look at it from the vantage of first half/second half, from 2021–2024, Smith hit .269/.365/.478 (132 wRC+) whereas averaging 74 video games previous to the All-Star break (oddly, it wasn’t till 2023 that he made an All-Star group). In these second halves, he tailed off to a still-respectable .241/.327/.429 (107 wRC+) whereas averaging 56 video games, however by October, his bat was out of gasoline, as he hit .211/.295/.414 (91 wRC+) within the postseason. Final yr, whereas catching a career-high 117 video games, he dipped from a 130 wRC+ within the first half to 78 within the second and then 62 through the Dodgers’ October championship run, although he did homer in every postseason spherical.

Aware of the extent to which they’ve leaned on Smith, whose 3971.1 innings caught from 2021–24 was 459 greater than any catcher in addition to Realmuto, the Dodgers have swapped out his backups. On Could 14, the group designated Austin Barnes for project and known as up catching prospect Dalton Dashing from Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis. The 35-year-old Barnes, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Marlins in the identical December 2014 blockbuster that despatched Dee Unusual-Gordon to Miami and introduced Enrique Hernández to Los Angeles, debuted in 2015 and spent ’17–18 backing up Yasmani Grandal. Barnes went on to assist the Dodgers win 4 pennants and two World Collection; his one-out single within the sixth inning of Recreation 6 of the 2020 World Collection — which Los Angeles trailed 1-0 on the time — turned the lineup over, spelling the tip of Blake Snell’s night time and sparking the go-ahead rally that despatched the Dodgers to their first championship in 32 years.

However for as adept as he was at dealing with the pitching employees, Barnes was not often hitter (43 wRC+ this yr, 85 profession). With the 24-year-old Dashing hitting .308/.424/.514 (144 wRC+) with 5 homers in 31 video games at Oklahoma Metropolis, the Dodgers determined it was time to check out the highest place participant of their system. A 60-FV prospect (and like Smith, a Louisville alum), Dashing positioned eight on our preseason Prime 100 Prospects record because of his plus-plus arm, above-average energy, and common hit device, with Eric Longenhagen summarizing, “Dashing has developed into defensive catcher and well-rounded offensive menace. He might drive the Dodgers to discover a approach to roster each him and Will Smith on the identical time.”

That’s precisely what occurred, and it was a transfer the Dodgers — who final week launched each Barnes and one other longtime member of their core, Chris Taylor — didn’t take evenly. “This was definitely a troublesome dialog. Austin is a Dodger for all times. He helped us win the championship, caught the final pitch in 2020 within the World Collection, and he’s accomplished a whole lot of nice issues in the neighborhood for the Dodgers, for myself personally,” stated Roberts of the transfer on the time. “I simply assume that for us proper now, with what Dalton Dashing is doing on the efficiency aspect, it’s a chance to problem him, increase his development, give him a chance to log some main league video games and basically give him some runway.”

The plan is for Dashing to catch two video games every week, function a pinch-hitter off the bench, and construct relationships with the Dodgers’ pitchers, a few of whom — together with Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin — he caught throughout rehab assignments at Oklahoma Metropolis. The Dodgers are hoping that his improvement permits him to not solely carve out a spot for himself however to assist protect Smith.

On Saturday at Citi Area, Roberts gushed about Dashing. “I see a baseball rat, a man that wishes to be taught, a man that respects what guys have accomplished, [respects] the sport. He feels that he’s going to be a celebrity. I really like him within the field, he’s very assured, he controls the hitting zone. He’s going to be one for a very long time.”

Dashing isn’t there but. On Saturday, he went 0-for-3, with two strikeouts and an RBI on a three-foot chopper that regarded as if it may need caught his personal foot however introduced dwelling Tommy Edman. Since his call-up, Dashing is 4-for-16 with a double however eight strikeouts in 17 plate appearances.

Dashing’s apprenticeship might be a prolonged one. Smith is signed by 2033 by way of a 10-year, $140-million extension that has only a $12.4 million AAV because of deferrals. With the DH spot blocked by Ohtani (although it’d unencumber as soon as in awhile after he returns to the mound, possible not till after the All-Star break) and first base by Freeman, the simple avenues for Smith to search out time at different positions are blocked. A shortstop in highschool, he did play 58 video games at third base within the minors and was thought of an above-average defender there by Baseball America as late as 2018 (when he performed 43 video games at third and caught 49 video games), however he took so effectively to catching that he left the recent nook behind. Dashing is the extra possible candidate to make cameos at different positions, as he’s performed 38 video games at first base and 33 in left discipline — Taylor’s main outfield spot, ahem — since being drafted within the second spherical in 2022.

Whereas this yr has been an exception to this point, thanks partially to Smith, Kelly, and the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, offense from the catching spot is usually in quick provide. With Dashing becoming a member of Smith and hopefully giving him just a few further days off, the Dodgers hope they’ve discovered yet one more benefit. By the seems of the NL West standings, the place they lead each the Padres and Giants by simply two video games, they might effectively want it.