Dodgers' Dalton Rushing Says He Was Exposed by Opposing Team

The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped a tough three-game series to the Chicago White Sox on the road this weekend, with the pitching sputterling a little.

In the finale, the Dodgers held a lead until a disastrous sixth inning from starter Emmet Sheehan that allowed the White Sox to open the scoring. Sheehan was charged with three runs over five innings, but it was catcher Dalton Rushing who took the blame afterwards.

Rushing discussed the sixth inning that lost the Dodgers the game, saying that Chicago exposed him.

“You still stick to, one, what your pitcher is good at first of all. And two, kind of pitch around what the hitter is good at. Like I said, I thought we did a fine job with that,” Rushing said. “Their leadoff guy jumped on a pitch that he historically isn’t great against. But he put a good swing on the ball and sadly it didn’t go our way. They made a few adjustments as an offense and exposed me personally.”

Sheehan has struggled to go deep into games this season, but he had good stuff for the first five innings on Sunday. But Rushing believes he should have helped the right-hander out more, giving him a chance to make it through the inning.

Rushing is still a young catcher himself, with a lot to learn about how to navigate a full big-league game. But the White Sox just put together a few quality at-bats, and the entire game flipped.

Even with this, the Dodgers have been very happy with how Rushing has performed on the field. While he has seen some antics cause controversy, his play has been exactly what the Dodgers have wanted.

Manager Dave Roberts recently praised the young catcher for his progression this year.

"I think he's getting a much better understanding of what the pitchers can and can't do, layering that into what the hitters can and can't do," Roberts said. "He's having a better understanding of the hitters, understanding of the game situation, and there is a lot of key at-bats that I've seen that him make good decisions, which you'd expect when you get more repetition."

For the year, Rushing has hit .269 with eight home runs and 21 runs batted in, while posting an OPS of .881. While he has cooled off a little from his hot start to the season, Rushing has filled in nicely as the backup catcher for the Dodgers.

With Will Smith on the injured list, Rushing has been given a large opportunity, and so far, he's taken advantage. There will be ups and downs for the young catcher over his career, but it's how he learns from them that will ultimately determine his longevity in the league.

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