Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Makes Case for Will Smith Being Named an All-Star Starter
Some may say that with the season Will Smith is having both behind the plate and at it, he should be an automatic lock as the starting catcher for the NL All-Star team. But with just about a week and a half until the big game, Smith is currently second in votes to be the starter behind Atlanta's Sean Murphy:
Here's what Smith's manager has to say about his season so far:
“There’s obviously room for improvement,” Roberts said of Smith, “but we feel great about Will and I personally feel he’s the best catcher in baseball. This is a tall order, to hit in the middle of this order, and to catch a lot of different arms. It’s certainly a lot of guys who don’t have service time.”
via OC Register
The case for Will Smith is this. Anybody can have a productive season as a catcher when your rotation is consistent, and you're catching the same five guys in a rotation all the time, but with the Dodgers, and especially Smith, it's a different story.
He has caught a pitch from at least eight different starting pitchers this year:
- Clayton Kershaw
- Julio Urias
- Noah Syndergaard
- Tony Gonsolin
- Michael Grove
- Dustin May
- Bobby Miller
- Emmet Sheehan
It's no secret that in order to be a catcher, you have to be one of the smartest players on the field, and you have to have one of the best memories out there — but to create a report on each of these new arms, and know each one of their go to pitches takes a lot of talent.
On the season, here's how Smith's stats stack up against Murphy:
Will Smith - .286 BA / 12 HR / 41 RBI / .400 OBP / .507 SLG
Sean Murphy - .289 BA / 13 HR / 44 RBI / .385 OBP / .540 SLG
Smith has never been chosen to an All-Star team, while he's quietly put together very solid seasons ever since he's been in the majors. This should finally be the year.
