Smith still managing ankle injury that hindered him in 2024
Sonja Chen
@sonjamchenGLENDALE, Ariz. -- Catcher Will Smith did not make his first Cactus League appearance until Friday night as he nursed a lingering ankle issue -- and as it turns out, he's been dealing with it for quite some time.
Smith said on Saturday that he sustained a bone bruise in his left ankle after rolling it on a slide early last summer, when the Dodgers had a three-game series against the Yankees in New York from June 7-9. He played through the rest of the season without going on the injured list, but his numbers did take a dip in the second half.
Even after he was able to rest the ankle in the offseason, Smith still felt some discomfort early in camp. He felt good physically after playing five innings at catcher in his spring debut.
"??You can do all sorts of treatment and everything," Smith said, "but the only thing that really heals it is rest. ¡ We're looking more into why maybe it's not going away. Sometimes it just takes a while."
Bone bruises can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months to fully heal, depending on the severity.
In all likelihood, the uneven results Smith saw in 2024 were not just because of his ankle. He got off to a blistering start in March/April, hitting .362 with a .946 OPS in his first 27 games. The hot start helped keep his overall first-half numbers in good shape, even as his production began to drop off in May.
After the All-Star break, Smith posted a .626 OPS. He started at catcher in all 16 of the Dodgers' postseason games en route to the eighth World Series title in franchise history, but he went 8-for-56 (.143) at the plate (three of the eight hits were homers).
"I think last year, there was a lot of pitches that he was missing," manager Dave Roberts said. "I do believe the foot was kind of impeding the swing. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s been able to manage it. But I think right now, he¡¯s in a really good spot."
Smith, though, did not think that the ankle limited him at the plate or behind the dish. He said he felt it impacted his running more than anything else.
Instead, Smith thinks that his results from last season may have had more to do with his mechanics than his health. He worked to clean up his swing during the offseason, which involved taking a look at what he did when he was at his best while also adapting to how he moves now.
"More just probably the swing itself, the mechanics of it," Smith said. "Angles were fine, just coming a little bit too far inside the ball, kind of not creating room for my hands to work, stuff like that. But super technical stuff."
There could also be a wear-and-tear element, as catchers deal with that more than just about any other player on the field. Last year, Smith started a career-high 117 games at catcher, and his 121 total appearances there ranked fifth in the Majors behind Cal Raleigh (135), Shea Langeliers (131), Logan O'Hoppe and Tyler Stephenson (both 127).
The Dodgers have the ultimate high-class problem in that their everyday designated hitter is Shohei Ohtani. Because Ohtani doesn't play in the field, the team has to choose between getting its other regulars off their feet with a DH day or not having its superstar leadoff hitter in the starting lineup.
That should change this year, with Ohtani returning as a two-way player. He's due to be ready to pitch in big league games in May, and the Dodgers anticipate needing to build in more rest for their superstar, at least early on.
"When he does get off-days, we still can backfill with a lot of good players, whether it's Will Smith or any other player that might need to get some at-bats," Roberts said. "I just don't know if it's going to be before a start day to prepare, after a start day. ¡ I just don't know any of that stuff right now."
Above all, as Smith looks toward a better 2025, he doesn't discount that the randomness factor that is characteristic of baseball could have been at play in '24.
"If it's good, it's baseball. If it's bad, it's baseball," Smith said. "I have no control over it."