MILWAUKEE — Will Smith is going to have a lot of time on his hands this weekend.
Coming off the team off day on Thursday, Smith was not in the starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he planned to start backup catcher Dalton Rushing in two of the three games this weekend to give Smith “a little bit of a break to re-set.”
Read more UCLA baseball rallies past Purdue to reach Big Ten Tournament semifinals
“I think just for me the last few weeks Will has been grinding,” Roberts said. “I’ve caught him a lot. He’s working on his swing. So for me, to give him two days off – one to kind of re-set, the off day (Thursday), this one to watch a game and work on his swing and not have to play.”
Both Roberts and Smith insisted there was “nothing physical” behind the decision to sit Smith.
“I feel good,” said Smith, who did miss time with a lower back issue in late April. “That was just a couple days and it went away. I’m 100 percent.
“Yeah, it’s a little weird (of the back-to-back off days this week). But it’s all good.”
Like most of his teammates, Smith’s offensive production has not been all good this season. He took a .246 batting average and a .669 OPS into the weekend series with just four hits in his past 27 at-bats (.148) and only one extra-base hit in his past 12 games.
“Last game, a few things clicked for me,” Smith said of working on “some lower-half stuff, some arm positioning and then just some timing things.
“Overall, it’s been very close all year. Just trying to find a way to barrel up some more balls.”
During the series in San Diego this week, Roberts dropped Smith in the lineup, batting him lower than fifth for the first time this season. Roberts commented that Smith was “not hitting the fastball” during his slump.
“Honestly, I feel like I’m hitting fastballs hard,” Smith said of that. “They’re just hard to right field. Especially line drives in the gap that are getting caught. Overall, I’ve been hitting the ball hard – just to right field. I’m not pulling it and we think that’s a mechanical issue.
Read more UCLA softball stifles Central Florida in NCAA Super Regional opener
“We’ll figure it out.”
IN RELIEF
Going into the series in Milwaukee, the Dodgers’ bullpen had not been charged with a run for 29 consecutive innings, the longest scoreless streak by Dodgers’ relievers since the 1998 season.
Overall through Thursday, the Dodgers’ bullpen ranked first in the National League in ERA (3.03), second in WHIP (1.14) and batting average against (.206) and had actually been better (a 2.38 ERA) since Edwin Diaz’s last appearance on April 19.
“I think they’re just going after guys,” Roberts said. “I haven’t dug into the 29 innings but I just know there haven’t been a lot of free bases. We’re playing good defense behind them. They’ve all answered the bell when called upon.”
Only one team’s bullpen (the Arizona Diamondbacks) has walked fewer batters than the Dodgers (61) through Thursday.
SERIES SWEEP
The Dodgers-Brewers series this weekend is a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series, swept in four games by the Dodgers. During the regular season, though, the Brewers dominated, sweeping the six-game season series.
“It’s a really good team. I don’t think people appreciate how well this team plays baseball,” Roberts said. “There’s not a lot of fanfare as far as name recognition. But the way (Brewers manager) Pat Murphy gets these guys to play, it’s a fun brand of baseball. They don’t strike out much. They put the ball in play. They bunt, they hit and run, they steal bases, they can pitch. It’s a good matchup.”
Despite their annual lack of star power, the Brewers have won the NL Central four of the past five seasons and lead the division again this year.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 2-3, 5.09 ERA) at Brewers (LHP Robert Gasser, 0-0, 4.50 ERA), Saturday, 4:15 p.m., FOX (Ch. 11), 570 AM
Read more Brewers get to Justin Wrobleski in 1st inning, beat Dodgers in series opener