GLENDALE, Ariz. — Will Smith’s occupation puts him in harm’s way on a regular basis – foul tips, batters with long follow-throughs and the occasional (albeit less frequent these days) collision with a baserunner all threaten to leave their mark on a catcher.
But it’s an ungraceful moment on the bases that is dogging Smith even eight months later.
In the second game of the Dodgers’ series at Yankee Stadium early in June, Smith charged into second base on a force play, slid late and slid awkwardly, rolling his left ankle.
Smith stayed in the game, didn’t miss any playing time as a result of the ankle injury and went on to start a career-high 117 games at catcher last season – while getting daily treatment on a bone bruise in his left ankle.
The discomfort did not go away during the offseason and Smith arrived in spring training still bothered by the ankle injury. He has been catching bullpen sessions and taking batting practice during workouts but didn’t see action in a Cactus League game until Friday night against the Angels.
Smith tried to minimize the impact of the ongoing issue.
“(It) just stuck around all year and didn’t get better in the offseason,” Smith said Saturday.
“It wasn’t, like, horrible. There were definitely different days. … I don’t think it affected anything. Something to manage really.”
Smith said it doesn’t affect him while hitting or behind the plate but mainly when he has to run. Still, Smith acknowledged that he is surprised he is still feeling discomfort from an injury that happened in the first half of last season.
“A little bit, yeah,” he said. “We’re looking more into why maybe it’s not going away. Sometimes it just takes a while.”
Freddie Freeman suffered an even uglier ankle injury in September and is now recovering from surgery to repair the damage caused. Smith’s injury was “not a surgical situation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“It’s a bruise. It’s a bone bruise that’s deep, clearly, and four months (of rest) hasn’t helped the pain go away,” Roberts said. “So it’s just one of those things that it is what it is and he’s just going to have to deal with it. That’s just the way it is.”
Signed to a 10-year, $140 million contract extension last March, Smith got off to a great start and was hitting .347 with a .929 OPS 30 games into the 2024 season. But he hit .215 the rest of the way and finished with career-lows in batting average (.247), on-base percentage (.327), slugging percentage (.433) and OPS (.760).
He hit just .206 with only five home runs in 48 games after the All-Star break and .143 (8 for 56) during the Dodgers’ postseason run. Smith didn’t mention the injury at the time and now acknowledges only that it “might have a little bit” been a factor in his depressed offense.
“It didn’t hurt really the swing – maybe I could’ve compensated. I don’t know,” Smith said.
Roberts thinks the ankle injury definitely affected Smith’s swing.
“I think last year there was a lot of pitches that he was missing,” Roberts said. “I do believe the foot was kind of impeding the swing.”
Smith explains last year’s extended slump as “just baseball … If it’s good, it’s baseball. If it’s bad, it’s baseball. I have no control over it.” But he has tried to take some control by working on some adjustments to his swing over the offseason.
“Angles were fine, just coming a little bit too far inside the ball, kind of not creating room for my hands to work, stuff like that. But super technical stuff,” he said.
2B OR NOT
The Dodgers’ roster/lineup picture is “very clear everywhere but center field and second base,” Roberts said Friday.
The Dodgers manager confirmed that Tommy Edman is “going to play every day.” What seems unclear, however, is whether Edman will get that playing time in center field or at second base.
When the Dodgers arrived at spring training, the expectation was for Edman to be the primary center fielder and Hyeseong Kim the primary second baseman. But Kim’s transition from Korean baseball to MLB-level pitching has not gone well this spring, perhaps changing the picture from what the Dodgers planned before getting their first looks at Kim in action.
“We’re still sussing it out. It’s pretty similar,” Roberts said to that. “Good question.”
Kim hit a home run in Saturday’s Cactus League game, just his second hit in 16 spring at-bats. He could open the season in the minor leagues to get acclimated, freeing up a roster spot for Andy Pages or James Outman. Center field and second base would then be a group effort among Edman, Pages or Outman, Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor.
“I think he’s a ways away (from being a finished product as a major-league hitter),” Roberts said.
“He’s doing a great job of competing. And I think there’s still a lot more in there, a lot of growth.”
ALSO
Shohei Ohtani is expected to start at designated hitter Sunday in the Dodgers’ game against the Chicago White Sox. Freddie Freeman will play in the field for the first time this spring and start at first base in one of the Dodgers’ split-squad games.