LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will activate Dalton Rushing on Friday before their final regular-season series, giving the left-handed power hitter at least a few more days and a handful of at-bats to unleash his swing.
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The Dodgers are not ruling out a possible spot on a playoff roster, but as of now, they are just focused on giving Rushing the chance to take a few swings in San Francisco in a sign of respect.
“At the most it would be three pinch-hit at-bats, so just conduct at-bats and see what you got,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Just the circumstances of his situation, it’s just tough to just be hurt, come back, then be hurt again, and then take three pinch-hit at-bats to potentially then say, ‘Hey, you’re on the roster.’
“What he’s done for us this season certainly deserves some (playoff) consideration. That’s kind of giving him the respect and thoughtfulness of what he’s done for us.”
Rushing understands the situation and is fully on board with whatever decision is made.
His season was put in jeopardy when he went on the injured list in early August with an elbow injury that was diagnosed as a small UCL tear with a forearm flexor strain.
Determined to return as both a hitter and a catcher, Rushing worked at both sides of his game and returned on Sept. 1. But the continued throwing work outside of games led to a setback and he went back on the IL less than a week later.
“The at-bat’s really are the only side that I can truly help them in,” Rushing said Thursday. “Even then, it’s just a pinch-hit opportunity and no defense included, so I know that ties their hands up a little bit. But yeah, I’m excited.”
Without much time to make an impact, and the Dodgers also having the option of using left-handed-hitting rookie Josue De Paula on the playoff roster, Rushing is well aware of what he is up against. The club even has the option of using the lefty hitting Hyeseong Kim in the playoffs for his defense and speed.
“No hard feelings on either end,” Rushing said about getting a chance to play in the playoffs. “Obviously you want to play baseball. You feel healthy again to an extent. You feel healthy swinging a bat, so yeah, I want to get back soon.”
The next challenge is determining the extent of his elbow injury. Rushing is swinging pain-free after a platelet-rich plasma injection, but figuring out when he can throw again remains in question.
He is determined to rehab the injury, knowing that some kind of surgical procedure might be needed.
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“I think as soon as we get into the offseason, that’s decision time,” Rushing said. “Progressing the way that I’m progressing right now, I’m very optimistic it is going to be totally fine and just think it was a lot of workload increase very quickly. I think that’s what sparked it. Once I got the shot, it felt really, really good.”
Roberts did not say what the full roster move will be on Friday.
VIEW FROM THE TOP
Shohei Ohtani was back in the leadoff spot on Thursday after batting second in his return from the IL on Wednesday.
While his turn as a No. 2 hitter came because the San Diego Padres had left-hander Robbie Ray on the mound, Roberts has not said if batting second against a lefty will be a regular feature of the lineup.
“I’m kind of toying with it clearly,” Roberts said. “But I’m not sure exactly whether he’s going to stick in the one or rotate him depending on the pitcher.”
Ohtani went 1 for 4 with a walk on Wednesday, but the comfort level he showed at the plate pleased Roberts.
“I hope that’s a sign of things to come,” Roberts said. “Taking the first slider from Robbie Ray for a ball, (that) got him into a good count, whereas the last couple weeks he was just hair-on-fire swinging and chasing. It’s a hard way to make a living that way, right? I thought (Wednesday) the patience was really good. I hope that’s more to come.”
CATCHING ON FAST
After starting the first two games of the series against the Padres, catcher Will Smith gave way to backup Hunter Feduccia on Thursday but was available off the bench.
Smith is also set to start two of the three games in San Francisco over the weekend before settling into an everyday role in the playoffs.
In the last five games Smith started, he was batting .421 (8 for 19) with three home runs and five RBIs. Since returning from neck inflammation on Sept. 1, he is batting .255 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 19 games.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Tarik Skubal, 11-7, 2.85 ERA) at Giants (RHP Yunior Marte, 0-1, 4.66 ERA), Friday, 7:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM, 1020 AM
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