Dodgers Demote Pitcher, Move Will Smith to 60-Day IL Ahead of Phillies Game

The Los Angeles Dodgers have made a roster move ahead of Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Right-handed pitcher Landon Knack has been optioned to Triple-A while left-hander Charlie Barnes was added back to the active roster.

To make room for Barnes on the 40-man roster, catcher Will Smith has been moved to the 60-day injured list.

Dodgers Transfer Will Smith to 60-Day IL

Starting with Smith, this is purely a procedural move, with the catcher not expected to be back until mid-August at the earliest.

Smith is now ineligible to return before mid-August, which lines up with his earliest return date from the 60-day IL.

Smith initially missed a game in early June due to neck stiffness. At the time, the team didn't expect him to miss more than one game.

However, the issue persisted, and Smith ultimately went on the injured list. Over a month later, he hasn't made any progress, and he was recently shut down from baseball activities.

"To be honest with you, right now, he's taking at least a week off just really doing no activity to hopefully calm his neck down to then build up," manager Dave Roberts said this past Friday. "Early on, we've been trying to get him ready, moving around, doing some baseball stuff, but he hasn't been able to get over the hump.

"So I think we feel like, no activity, and then we'll kind of read and react after a week."

Roberts said the earliest Smith would be back is the middle of August. When asked if the team is counting on him returning or if they didn't know for sure, he said, "We don't know, but we’re certainly counting on it."

Dodgers Option Landon Knack

As for Knack, he's made just two appearances for the Dodgers since being reinstated off the injured list ahead of the All-Star break.

He allowed five runs over five innings for a 9.00 ERA with four strikeouts to two walks. He gave up four home runs.

Across parts of three seasons at the major league level with LA, Knack has a 4.33 ERA with 115 strikeouts over 116.1 innings.

He was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft.

Dodgers Bring Back Charlie Barnes

Finally there's Barnes, who re-signed with the Dodgers last week after getting designated for assignment and rejecting an outright assignment in lieu of free agency.

Barnes, 30, has made three appearances for the Dodgers at the big league level this season. His first two were scoreless one-inning stints. In his third one, he allowed seven runs over seven innings to save the team in a scheduled "bullpen game."

“Charlie did a nice job for what was asked of him,” Roberts said after that game. “For him to be able to save everyone else puts us in a great position."

Barnes is now back as a multi-inning relief option. He was initially acquired by the Dodgers earlier this year via a waiver claim from the Chicago Cubs.

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