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Will Smith lands on 60-day IL with Dodgers’ latest roster move appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After hoping that Will Smith would be able to work back from an early-season neck injury around the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced some not-so-great news on Tuesday, letting fans know that their star catcher would not be returning to the plate any time soon, as he was instead heading to the 60-day IL.
“The Dodgers selected the contract of LHP Charlie Barnes and optioned RHP Landon Knack to Triple-A Oklahoma City,” the Dodgers shared. “In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers placed catcher Will Smith on the 60-day injured list.”
With Smith out, the Dodgers find themselves with the combination of Dalton Rushing and Eliezer Alfonzo as their catching pairing unless the team swings a deal for another option before August’s trade deadline. Fortunately, while discussing his team ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Phillies, Dave Roberts noted that he is confident in Alfonzo as his 1B option, as he feels the second-generation player was born to play at the MLB level.
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“The trust level, to be honest, I played with his father, and his father was a good baseball guy, and so he was raised to be a catcher,” Roberts noted. “I think he just has feel, there’s a confidence that he has behind the plate, you know, in himself, so I think for me the fingers, the feel for the game, the relation with the pitchers, I really wasn’t too concerned about it, you know, even in spring training, a brief little snippet sample, he assimilated really well for a guy that’s never been in camp, so I felt good about that.”
Since making his debut for the Dodgers earlier this month, Alfonzo has appeared in seven games for the Dodgers, recording one hit and one RBI over 12 plate appearances. With just under two weeks before the trade deadline, maybe the Dodgers will give him a longer look to see if they will need to make a trade for a player like Ben Rortvedt, who is currently in Triple-A as part of the New York Mets organization.
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