The Los Angeles Dodgers are the most talented team in baseball top to bottom. That includes players like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and more. However, it's a lesser-known Dodger who has been on an absolute tear since May 1. While his primary responsibility is to manage the pitching staff, Los Angeles catcher Will Smith has been among the best hitters in MLB this month as well. Let me explain.
Since May 1, Smith ranks 11th in wRC+ with 190. He also has a .375/.500/.521 slash line in that same time period. Smith doesn't offer the same extra-base power as an Ohtani or Freeman, but he gets on-base at a consistent clip. This month, he's been as close to a guarantee as the Dodgers can ask for, all the while carrying the weight of the LA pitching staff on his shoulders, which includes managing the pitch selection of top international talents like Yamamoto and Sasaki. This guy can do it all.
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Will Smith deserves more praise for his recent Dodgers success
Smith hasn't complained in the slightest, despite the responsibility he shares. Just a few weeks ago he complimented Yamamoto for an incredible outing, and received little praise for his role in it.
“Just executing all of his pitches. Just making it really hard on the hitters,” Smith said. “Right now, he’s pitching like the best pitcher in the world. We’re just fortunate to have him.”
Does that make Smith among the best catchers in the world? We wouldn't know, because he doesn't seem to care about the notoriety. That being said, Smith is not alone when it comes to catchers outperforming their usual standard. Catchers as a whole are hitting with a .246/.318/.396 slash line, per FanGraphs. That is far higher than in recent seasons.
"At this juncture, I feel inclined to state the obvious: The 2025 season is less than two months old, and catchers have roughly another 13,000 plate appearances to take before the year is up. That gives them plenty of time and opportunity to come crashing down to earth. But even if this all turns out to be a small sample size fluke, it’s a fluke like we’ve maybe never seen before," Leo Morgenstern wrote.
Even still, Smith's numbers rank significantly above those, and he is the running favorite to start the NL All-Star Game at the position, as he should be. Ohtani may very well by the NL MVP once again this season. Much of the Dodgers success runs through Smith, though, and it's important to acknowledge as much.