Dodgers Provide Update on Will Smith Injury

Dodgers catcher Will Smith left Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a right hand contusion, the team announced.

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Dalton Rushing pinch hit for Smith in the third inning at PNC Park and took over behind the plate after Smith was hit on the hand by a Nick Gonzales foul ball in the bottom of the second.

Will Smith left the game with a right hand contusion.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 3, 2025

Gonzales eventually struck out, and Smith stayed in and finshed out the second inning behind the plate. But after he was checked out by a trainer in the Dodgers' dugout, Smith was removed from the game.

A contusion is a best-case scenario for Smith, who went 3-for-5 in Tuesday's series opener. Smith also delivered the big hit in the Dodgers' previous game, a walkoff home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday.

Will Smith kept it cool after the game when talking about his walk-off run home run to save the Dodgers from getting swept by AZ:

“We needed it, we needed a win this series… it’s pretty cool, just always be ready to go, not checking out of a game early.” pic.twitter.com/XGe5oNjn6p
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) August 31, 2025

For the season, Smith is hitting .297 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. His last two games represented a strong turnaround following a poor August (.147/.318/.250) before Sunday's home run.

Smith has been a poor second-half hitter in recent seasons. In 2022, his OPS dropped from .842 to .765 after the All-Star break. In 2023, it dropped from .889 to .701 after the break. Last year, it dropped from .838 to .626.

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Given his recent resurgence, the Dodgers would love to keep Smith in the lineup as long as he is swinging a hot bat. That might not be in the realm of possibility if he needs time to recover from this injury.

Remarkably for a catcher — or any player — Smith has only gone on the injured list twice since his 2019 debut. The last instance was in August 2023, when he missed two weeks with a concussion. The other was in August 2020, when Smith missed 10 days with neck inflammation.

Between the optimistic diagnosis and Smith's history of avoiding the IL, it's reasonable to assume he won't be out long this time.

Rushing was the Dodgers' top prospect when he made his major league debut in May. The 24-year-old has had his moments at the plate, and has proven to be more adept at framing than Smith in the aggregate.

I do think "bad at framing" is too general of a summation. There are specific breakdowns and he's pretty average where that pitch missed. He's just really bad up. https://t.co/g78tjNlxUR pic.twitter.com/vyu8VD7nSy
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) September 3, 2025

Overall, Rushing is slashing .190/.256/.293 in 43 games — a whisper of the .308/.424/.514 hitter who demolished Triple-A pitching at Oklahoma City to start the season. Paul Skenes starts Thursday's series finale for Pittsburgh, and the Dodgers would certainly like their chances against him better with Smith than Rushing behind the plate.

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