Dodgers' Dave Roberts Sends Warning to Dalton Rushing to 'Not Be Reckless'

The Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten off to a nice start to the 2026 season, even with the team's recent losing skid. While Los Angeles has been dealing with some injuries to key players, the team has seen some unlikely guys step up to help carry the load.

One of those players is young catcher Dalton Rushing, who has made a name for himself in baseball this season.

Rushing has been having an excellent start to his season, and he has the look of a player who could potentially become a starting catcher in the league for years to come.

But his performance on the field has been overshadowed at times by some antics of his own doing. Rushing has drawn criticism from opposing teams and players following multiple incidents this season, and it's been a big talking point around him.

With this, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts issued a warning to his young catcher to cool it with the antics, especially in this new, digital world we live in.

“He’s bringing stuff onto himself he doesn’t need to bring on,” Roberts said recently. “There’s a responsibility to not be reckless because everything is captured.”

Roberts understands that Rushing has a fiery personality and that he lets his competitiveness come out when on the field. But nowadays, everything that players do is captured and examined with a fine-tooth comb, and Rushing needs to be careful.

The catcher got into some hot water when he made comments about the Colorado Rockies in a previous series this year, saying that the team made some "fishy" swings. Rushing was also caught using profanity toward outfielder Jung Hoo Lee of the San Francisco Giants after a collision at the plate.

In another instance, Rushing again used profanity while talking about Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya.

The young catcher has a lot to learn about the professionalism part of being at the big league level, but this is all part of the learning curve for him. Rushing has said that he needs to be better, and has vowed to do just that.

“You never want to be viewed as a guy like that from opposing teams,” Rushing said to the California Post. “You want guys to hate playing against you because of the player that you are and how great you are on a baseball field. Not because of the verbalized things you say.”

“I’m gonna continue to compete, I’m gonna continue to play with an edge,” he added. “But obviously we can hone back a little bit on things that can get you in trouble in this media world.”

Rushing is still only 25 years old, and he just made his MLB debut last season. Los Angeles is very happy with his progression, but making sure that he cools it with the interactions will be the next step for him.

On the season, Rushing has helped the Dodgers a ton on the field, hitting .340 with seven home runs and 17 runs batted in while posting an astonishing .1221 OPS. If he were to keep up this performance all year, Los Angeles may have another All-Star on the roster, this time from an unexpected source.

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