Smith went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Twins.
Smith singled and later came around to score on three-run homer by James Outman in the top of the fourth inning before launching a three-run shot of his own the following frame. The long ball was the catcher's first of the season, but he's out to a red-hot start to 2024 overall, batting .400 with five extra-base hits and 12 RBI over 50 at-bats in 12 contests.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Gets breather Wednesday
Rotowire
Smith is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Twins, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Smith will get some rest after he started behind the plate each of the past three days while going 3-for-13 with a home run, four RBI and an additional run. Austin Barnes draws the starting nod at catcher in the series finale in Minnesota.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Resting Saturday
Rotowire
Smith isn't in the Dodgers' lineup Saturday versus the Cubs, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Smith will catch a breather after going 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored during Friday's loss in the series opener. Austin Barnes will fill in behind the plate Saturday and bat ninth.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Racks up four hits Friday
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Smith went 4-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI in Friday's loss to the Cubs.
Smith continues to hit the ball well early in the campaign, as he's slashing .459/.488/.568 through 41 plate appearances. Though he's yet to go deep, the All-Star catcher has collected four doubles and eight RBI. Smith and teammate Mookie Betts are tied for the MLB lead with 17 hits.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Receives Sunday off
Rotowire
Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Cardinals.
Smith has at least one hit in each of the first five games of the season and is coming off a three-hit performance Saturday, but he'll receive a breather in the series finale against St. Louis. Austin Barnes will step in behind the plate and bat ninth Sunday.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Tallies three hits Saturday
Rotowire
Smith went 3-for-5 with two RBI in Saturday's extra-inning loss to St. Louis.
Smith came through twice in run-scoring opportunities, knocking in a run with a single in the fifth inning and repeating the feat in the seventh. The All-Star catcher is off to a nice start to the campaign, collecting at least one hit in each of his first five games and slashing .455/.500/.545 with four RBI through 22 plate appearances. He's yet to sit out a contest and should have plenty of opportunities to produce this season while batting cleanup behind Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Nabs 10-year extension
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Smith agreed Wednesday with the Dodgers on a 10-year, $140 million contract extension, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Smith had been eligible for free agency after the 2025 season, but the extension -- the longest for a catcher in MLB history -- will keep him in Dodger blue through his age-38 campaign in 2033. Since posting a career-best .980 OPS in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Smith's OPS has dropped in each of the last three seasons, but his .797 mark in 2023 was still good for fifth among all backstops who logged at least 400 plate appearances. The 29-year-old got off to a strong start to the regular season during last week's Seoul Series, going 5-for-10 with a double, a walk, two RBI and one run in the Dodgers' two games versus the Padres. Smith occupied the cleanup spot in both of those contests, and if health prevails in 2024, he should have a prime opportunity to surpass his previous career high of 87 RBI while hitting behind the likes of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Collects four hits Thursday
Rotowire
Smith went 4-for-6 with a double, a run and two RBI in Thursday's loss to the Padres in the second game of the Seoul Series.
After the Padres went ahead 5-0 in the top of the first inning, Smith put the Dodgers on the board with an RBI double in the bottom of the frame. He collected three singles the rest of the way -- including an RBI base knock in the seventh -- as he and Mookie Betts combined for half of the Dodgers' 16 total hits. Smith went 5-for-10 over the two-game, season-opening set in South Korea and appears to be fully recovered from the back issue that caused him to be scratched from Los Angeles' final Cactus League game March 13.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Returns from back issue
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Smith (back) started at catcher and went 1-for-2 with a two-run double against Team Korea on Monday.
He had recently been scratched from a Cactus League game as a precaution due to back tightness, but since he was able to start this exhibition in South Korea, it seems like it was a minor issue. Smith should play in the Seoul Series against the Padres later this week.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Scratched with back tightness
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Smith was scratched from the lineup Wednesday for the Dodgers' Cactus League game against the Mariners due to low-back tightness, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Smith should be fine to play a week from now when the Dodgers take on the Padres for the first of two games in South Korea to kick off their regular season. The Dodgers felt no need to push Smith to play in their final Cactus League game, so Austin Barnes will handle catching duties Wednesday.
Smith told Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic this week that he and his representation have not had any contract extension talks with the Dodgers.
Smith is set to earn $8.55 million in 2024 and will be arbitration eligible once more in 2025 before reaching free agency. It's not clear whether the team intends to eventually engage with Smith regarding a long-term deal, but at the moment it doesn't seem to be a priority. The Dodgers have Dalton Rushing, Diego Cartaya and Thayron Liranzo in the minors, but Cartaya is coming off a disappointing season and Rushing and Liranzo might not be ready to take over after 2025.
Dodgers' Will Smith: Gets $8.6 million from Dodgers
Rotowire
Smith signed a one-year, $8.6 million deal with the Dodgers on Thursday to avoid arbitration, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Smith was in the second year of arbitration eligibility and will earn $3.3 million more than he did in 2023. He posted a career-low .797 OPS across 554 plate appearances last season, though he was still an above-average producer at catcher with 19 homers and 76 RBI.
Smith went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Friday's 6-2 win over the Giants.
Smith got the scoring started with his first-inning blast. The catcher has struggled a bit lately, going just 5-for-36 (.139) over his last 10 games, though he's still managed five RBI in that span. For the season, he's posted a .259/.357/.437 slash line with 19 long balls, 76 RBI, 79 runs scored, three stolen bases, 21 doubles and two triples over 125 games.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Heads to bench
Rotowire
Smith will be on the bench Saturday against the Giants.
Smith sits for the second time in three days, with the Dodgers seemingly prioritizing rest in the final week of the regular season. He's one homer shy of his third straight 20-homer campaign but will have to wait until the final game of the season to try for it, unless he appears as a pinch hitter Saturday. Austin Barnes will start behind the plate in Smith's absence, catching for Clayton Kershaw.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Rest day Thursday
Rotowire
Smith is out of the lineup Thursday at Colorado.
Austin Barnes will start behind the plate and bat ninth in the Dodgers' series finale against the Rockies. Smith had caught two straight games while going 1-for-8 with two RBI.
