Add The California Post on Google PITTSBURGH –– What started as a supposedly minor neck issue for Dodgers catcher Will Smith may now be on the verge of landing him on the injured list.
For a third-straight game on Tuesday, Smith was out of the Dodgers’ lineup because of neck stiffness.
And after initially downplaying the severity of the injury, manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that it “is more of a possibility” that the three-time All-Star now lands on the IL.
“He just still doesn’t feel right,” Roberts said. “I don’t know what the thought is or where we’re at on the imaging piece of it. So it’s still a day-to-day situation. But for me, just talking to him, talking to the trainers, I would like him to go through a full day [of pregame work] before he plays. So that would probably take tomorrow off the table. And then we’ll kind of go from there.”
What started as a supposedly minor neck issue for Dodgers catcher Will Smith may now be on the verge of landing him on the injured list. Smith was initially scratched from the Dodgers’ lineup on Saturday, after his neck discomfort “came out of nowhere,” according to Roberts.
Initially, the team’s hope was that he would return Sunday. When that didn’t happen, the belief was that Monday’s off day would give him time to feel better.
Alas, even after taking swings and playing catch on Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburgh –– where the Dodgers are opening a three-game series against the Pirates –– Smith was still not back to 100%.
The clock is now ticking on the Dodgers to make an IL decision, as the minimum 10-day stint can only be backdated three days.
“We’re starting to talk about that,” Roberts said.
Either way, the Dodgers will have to hope the injury doesn’t continue to linger.
Smith was initially scratched from the Dodgers’ lineup on Saturday, after his neck discomfort “came out of nowhere,” according to Roberts. Getty Images Hailing a taxi
In other potential roster news on Tuesday, the Dodgers had two new pitchers in their clubhouse.
Minor-league relievers Chayce McDermott and Jake Eder both traveled to Pittsburgh on the team’s taxi squad –– but, at least for now, Roberts said neither was being added to the active roster.
“Right now we’re status quo,” Roberts said. “We brought guys in because a couple guys pitched a lot recently. So in case they weren’t ready, we brought in a couple guys just to protect our downside. But what I hear talking to [bullpen coach Josh Bard], the pitchers are fine. We’ll let them get through catch play. But I think that it’ll be status quo.”
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Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to play both ways in his next pitching start on Wednesday. And, this time, he might also remain in the lineup for the following day’s game too.
In recent weeks, the Dodgers have been keeping Ohtani in their batting order for his pitching starts (a change from earlier this season when he typically only focused on pitching) but giving him the following day off to rest.
This week, however, Roberts said the club felt good about pushing him a little bit more, given the day off the team had Monday.
“Sitting here today,” Roberts said, “I would expect him to be in the lineup on Thursday.”
