Will the Dodgers Be Rushing Dalton to Catch?

We’d never sign him due to character issues.

He’s surprisingly good but elite stuff still stymies him. I hope he gets traded to a team that can use him.

Matt old buddy, he has hit better on the road than at home. I will give him that. But watching his approach at the plate, I don’t see him making any adjustments to how they are pitching him. He still is chasing bad pitches, swinging way too much at first pitches that he CANNOT drive. I firmly believe he is FEELING the pressure of that contact and playing for an organization that is EXPECTED to win.

LA is 4-10 at Pittsburgh over the last 5 seasons. They play LA tough no matter who they have in the lineup

Skubal comes off of the IL on Saturday and Mize will join him on Sunday. Time for the Tigers to make their push or become sellers at the deadline.

Hes played 64 games…..lets give the guy a chance huh.

If you keep Ward does Call go? One would think the Dodgers could pick up a decent reliever for either Call or Ward or both. They both deserve to be on a MLB roster. Maybe it’s just not a fit with the Dodgers.

Oh really? They had no problem signing Bauer despite clear character issues and Chapman’s suspension was 11+ years ago. They will be in on him just like they were Miller last year and they wouldn’t have to sign him it would be a pure rental.

It’s good that Rushing will get a lot of reps with Smith out. Some “load management” for Smith now should help both him and Rushing in the long run. Rushing has been a streaky hitter and more games should help him become more consistent on offense and defense. If he shows that he can match or exceed Smith’s performance, that would be gravy. Is there any evidence that supports the notion that bigger catchers are sturdier? I’m not aware of any. I assume baseball teams have studied the relationship between size, body type and injury. Look around the majors and you see big dudes like Cal Raleigh and Perez and shorter guys like Alejandro Kirk, listed at 5-8 tall and about the same wide, at 245 pounds. Felix Fermin is listed at 5-11–but only 160 pounds. Yogi Berra, all-time great, was not a big guy. He was 5-7, and about 175-185 pounds in his prime. He was one of the sturdiest catchers ever. He played 19 seasons–long ones, because he helped the Yankees win 10 championships–and was an all-star 18 times. Sometimes caught both ends of doubleheaders. Will Smith is listed at 5-10, 195 pounds. He is injured at the moment, but showed his durability every inning of the WS, including an 18-inning marathon. Yes, Rushing is absolutely built like a tank, but does that mean he’s immune to injury? I don’t think so. In a few years, maybe Smith or Rushing will be asked to move to a position of need, most likely 3B or 1B. For Smith, 2B is an interesting idea…. Shades of Craig Biggio!…. But I don’t think it’s easier to play a stellar 2B than stellar 3B. Joe Torre and others played both catcher and 3B. Quick reactions and a strong arm are more vital at the hot corner, while playing 2B requires more range and perhaps technical aptitude for the double play. Both Smith and Rushing might seem a bit short to play 1B. But then, so was Steve Garvey.

It was 11 years ago. And if anyone remembers, LA had a deal in place to acquire Chapman. He would be welcome in this bullpen. Has a no BS mentality and throws lightning bolts.

with such good NBA and NHL playoffs, it’s hard to really get excited over dodger roster moves that will never happen in a zillion years

Diving into Kyle Tucker 2025 season, it’s pretty apparent he had an MVP type first half, then suffered some injury which crushed his 2nd half; hence the 2025 total OPS. Look at the first half OPS and second half OPS.

Epic game 4 last night in NY. Last 6 minutes of game Spurs looked like our bullpen! Given it up! Don’t forget that in Oct, Sasaki, Wrobo and Sheehan will also be in our pen. Mookie and Tucker saving themselves for post season. But can they please do it at the bottom of our lineup for now.

I am looking for a push to the front for Detroit. They are 5.5 back for a WC and 8.5 back in a weak division that has CWS in first. My money is on Detroit. They will be buyers at the deadline, not sellers. For me, this bodes well for Snell who istarted his throwing program last Friday. AF/BG will not rush him like Skubal was, because there is no need to.

So you’re saying he’s still hurt?

Maybe Snell should be the closer. Or, traded to SD for their closer.

Eno Sarris has a wonderful articles on “6 pitchers who have improved their stuff” ($$$$) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7342665/2026/06/09/mlb-starting-pitching-improved-stuff-aaron-nola-justin-wrobleski/ Sheehan, Sasaki AND Wrobo all make the article: Sheehan: He’s added more cut to his slider and leaned into its usage. He seems to be de-emphasizing the changeup. And lefties slug .496 against him. These things seem related, since the changeup should be a big weapon for him versus lefties. Sasaki: It’s nice when the process stats line up with a complete change in results, as they have with Roki Sasaki. His move to a harder splitter in favor of the forkball has given him more in-zone options and pushed his strikeout minus walk rate from terrible to elite in a four-start stretch. Finding another tick on the fastball has to be part of the story, but for the entire perspective, read Fabian Ardaya’s excellent piece on the subject. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7337779/2026/06/06/roki-sasaki-dodgers-velocity/ Wrobo: Two things stand out at first when you look at Wrobleski through the lens of Stuff+. For one, his slider is two ticks harder than it was at the beginning of the season. And two, his changeup is dropping three inches more than it did to start the season, thanks to a new split-change grip that he’s refined. Of course, the first is more important as he’s throwing the slider two-fifths of the time and the changeup a handful of times a game. But they’ve both contributed to his run of success.

With regards to Will Smith moving from behind the dish, I’ve always thought catchers have an easier transition to 3rd or 1st. Mark stated “2B is likely easier to learn than 3B”. Not to cherry pick one statement, but I disagree. “Easier” is pretty subjective but I think 2nd is more challenging physically and mentally. Physically, catchers are used to seeing 100mph baseballs flying their way and picking short hops. They need good quick exchanges and footwork to get the ball in the air. But only one arm angle. Quick feet mean more than lateral range. Charging bunts and swinging bunts would be a new skill. Second requires much more range in every direction. Knowing at least 3 different pivots at 2nd is necessary to be any good at turning double plays (being a first baseman, a cross-one and a drop step), along with multiple arm angles. Working in tandem with the shortstop, pop flys and cut-off plays are all more challenging than at 3rd. Arm strength is valuable at 3rd but getting the ball in the air quickly with arm strength plays at both positions. Mentally, learning the pick off plays, covering first on bunt coverages, covering 2nd, backing up and cut-off plays are all more challenging in the middle infield than they are at the corners. Teams can hide guys at the corners. But not up the middle. Will is a smart guy and a good athlete. But for me a transition to playing third is “easier” than a move to 2nd. Some time at 1st would be way to spell Freddie.

I agree Andrew about Ward being better than Tucker and a bonus savings. I don’t typically cry over spilled milk but I remember lobbying hard for Ward last season when he was tearing up AAA and the Dodgers refused to promote him preferring to stay with Conforto. Had they given Ward a change, it’s possible a deal for Tucker would have never happened. AF screw Ward which lead to screwing the Dodgers with Tucker’s contract.

PJ, You may be right, but for me, 2B was easier to learn than 3B… but I never played in MLB or MiLB. I was just a hack. 😉 But I loved it. I started as a SS in high school, moved to 3B in my mid-20’s and then to 2B at about 35.

I was pissed and disappointed in Mookie when he failed to run out the pop up he thought would be caught. He loafed. Some skippers would bench a guy for that but I guess Mookie has enough credit and troubles without that. But it was BAD baseball.

It is possible both get traded with Edman and Kike on the Horizon.

Outside the box thought: What if Freeland is traded off his relatively productive start and our potential redundant coverage of IF?

Possible… but what do I know? I would not have signed Tucker!

Mark I actually had difficulty moving between short and 2nd. It sounds ridiculous but the spin of a hard hit ball was opposite and required an adjustment. The “cut-spin” versus the “hook-spin” of hard hit grounders was the exact opposite at 2nd than what I was used to at SS, so that first hop was opposite. Does that make sense? But it doesn’t seem to make any difference to Miggy Ro who can pick it with a pair of tweezers.