When Dalton Rushing fouled a ball hard off his shin in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, it left the team in a brutal position.
One game removed from Will Smith suffering an injury of his own after taking a foul ball to the back of his hand, Rushing had to be helped off the field while in extreme pain, leaving the Dodgers to count on recently called-up catcher Ben Rortvedt to get through the game.
Unfortunately, it looks like Rortvedt will be a fixture of the starting lineup for at least the next few games as Dave Roberts formally announced that Rushing is heading to the IL and will be unavailable for the foreseeable future.
“The Dodgers are putting Dalton Rushing on the injured list, Dave Roberts said. Their healthy catchers tonight will be Ben Rortvedt (who is starting) and Chuckie Robinson,” Harris wrote.
“Will Smith is also still on the active roster. He won't be available tonight, but Roberts is hopeful he'll be available off the bench tomorrow. He tried throwing and swinging today.”
While it's never good to see a starting player suffer an injury, especially one like Smith who is truly elite at his position, the presence of Rushing helped to ease his absence at least for a bit. But with Rushing, an ascending offensive player, out of action for potentially longer than Smith, the Dodgers find themselves in dire straits with Rortvedt and Robinson unlikely to strike fear in the hearts of any opponent.
When will the Dodgers see Smith and Rushing again? That remains to be seen as the former will likely get back in the lineup before the latter, but for the next few games, the Dodgers will be severely undermanned at the catcher spot, which considering all the negativity surrounding the team, is just another brutal blow.
