Dodgers Manager Expects Rookie Backstop To Be 'Superstar' In MLB
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have stars littered across the diamond and hold Major League Baseball's best record entering Monday. But even with the current stars at Chavez Ravine, the future looks bright for the young bucks moving through the Dodgers system.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 27: Dalton Rushing #68 of the Los Angeles Dodgers waits for a pitch in the fourth inning during a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on May 27, 2025...
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 27: Dalton Rushing #68 of the Los Angeles Dodgers waits for a pitch in the fourth inning during a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on May 27, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. More
Photo byDodgers skipper Dave Roberts believes that rookie catcher Dalton Rushing will be a 'superstar' in Major League Baseball, according to Gabe Smallson of Dodgers Nation.
"He feels that he's going to be a superstar," Roberts said about Rushing. "I love him in the box. He's very confident. He controls the hitting zone, and he's going to be a good one for a long time."
Rushing has been below league average at the plate for the Dodgers this season, but he has only played in 18 games in the big leagues and has plenty of time for his young career to flourish. Rushing is batting .212 in 52 at-bats for the Dodgers this season.
Rushing was the Dodgers' top prospect last year, according to MLB Pipeline but is stuck behind catcher Will Smith, who is batting .318 with 10 home runs so far this year. Entering Monday, Smith is the National League leader in batting average.
The future is cloudy for Rushing as he will have to break through the barrier Smith has set up around the catching position for the Dodgers, or the Dodgers will have to use him as an asset in a trade to bolster their star-studded roster even more.
Rushing has a bright future in the eyes of Roberts, but with Smith signed through 2033, it is hard to believe Rushing's future is in Los Angeles.
More MLB: Blue Jays Top Destination For Rebounding Rangers Starting Pitcher
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3 hours ago
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Ask the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are lurking just behind the Dodgers and Yankees with a .776 team OPS, and trail only the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in runs scored. And they're fifth in home runs. But strikeouts? Just three teams whiff less often than Arizona, which has a 20.1% K rate; the Yankees rank 23rd at 23.1%. And the Diamondbacks hardly give up pop to get the ball in play: They rank eighth in hard-hit rate, with 42.3% of their balls at least 95 mph off the bat. It's no accident. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo says he and hitting coach Joe Mather are in alignment on their core offensive values: Putting the ball in play hard up the middle. Mather, Lovullo says, even keeps a running tab on how many balls reach their personal baseline of effectiveness: At least 90 mph on a line, with a launch angle between five and 25 degrees, equals success. 'I'm tired of people just going out there and striking out,' says Lovullo. 'It turned into a home run or strikeout league. I feel like if we get ahead of that and have an approach like the [David] Fletcher kid when he was in Anaheim, we'll be good. 'Fletcher got no love in this game, and I'm like, every team needs three or four of those guys. If we can have three or four of those guys with some slug, we're going to put up some runs.' Fletcher's career K rate was 9.5%, though he never managed to produce a league-average OPS over a full season. These D-backs don't have that problem. All-Star shortstop Geraldo Perdomo's strikeout rate has been vanishing a little more every year, now down to 11.7%. He pairs that with a .357 OBP and 115 adjusted OPS, along with such a strong situational feel that Lovullo says he can tell Perdomo, 'I need at least a five-pitch at-bat here,' and he will execute. 'I've always had really good eyes and make contact with no power,' says Perdomo. 'As I get older, I think it's a reason I'm hitting the ball harder. I feel proud. I don't want to strike out, and the most important thing I can do is putting the ball in play, and now that I'm getting some power, I feel like I can just drive the ball with more intensity. 'I'm not looking for a certain pitch, but if there's a good pitch that's close to me, I just try to drive the ball.'' While Arizona's pitching has dragged the club back toward the .500 mark, almost every contender has a contact fiend that tenderizes the opposing pitcher while also doing damage. For the Cubs, it is Nico Hoerner, who has just 22 strikeouts this season – a beyond elite 6.7% K percentage – while managing a .721 OPS despite just three home runs. He plays his role perfectly in the Cubs offense, haunting pitchers and defenses while enabling the lineup's aircraft carriers – Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch – to take their wallops. 'He's got the perfect approach with runners in scoring position: There's gonna be contact,' Counsell says of Hoerner, who's already amassed 3.3 WAR this season. 'It's really hard to strike him out. It's his elite skill. 'The ability to make contact is not an exciting trait as a hitter, but it's a valuable trait. It leads to runs getting scored.' And while the Tampa Bay Rays have shaved just 2% off their team K rate year-over-year, the addition of rookies Jake Mangum (13.4%) and speed merchant Chandler Simpson (9.6%) have given them a dynamic offensive attack. It's a decidedly postmodern look, one that might've seemed out of place in a pre-pandemic baseball world. And heck, it's not like the home run has vanished across the majors – the rate of 1.11 per team game is still 11th all-time. Perhaps what we're seeing is a generation of players realizing it's OK not to get too big at the plate, especially in an era where pitchers throw harder and nastier stuff with each subsequent season. 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