On June 8 final 12 months, through the ’ extremely anticipated at Yankee Stadium, ran exhausting attempting to beat a throw. As he neared second base he slid, left foot prolonged. Nearly instantly after he hit the bottom he bent down in ache, having awkwardly rolled his ankle because it jammed in opposition to the bag.
It wasn’t publicly revealed, however Smith suffered a bone bruise that resulted in ankle ache for the remainder of the season and continued discomfort all the way in which into spring coaching.
“It simply caught round all 12 months,” Smith mentioned, “and didn’t get higher within the offseason.”
Chalk it up as another factor that went awry for the Dodgers catcher final 12 months.
On the plate he posted profession lows in batting common (.248) and on-base-plus-slugging share (.760), failing to maintain a blistering opening month that helped him earn a second All-Star choice and slumping by means of a lot of the summer time months whereas struggling specifically .
Smith was nursing the nagging ankle damage, the second straight season he was lower than 100% and completed with an OPS underneath .800. In 2023 he suffered an early rib damage that continued to plague him the remainder of the season.
Smith’s ankle damage didn’t come to mild till the beginning of camp, when supervisor introduced that the 29-year-old backstop — who’s coming into the second season of the he signed final March — would miss the beginning of Cactus League play to present his ankle additional relaxation.
“I simply don’t assume it’s one thing that’s gonna go away anytime quickly,” Roberts mentioned. “It simply type of is what it’s.”
Smith made his spring debut Friday evening and mentioned his ankle felt 100% as he went 0 for 3 and spent 5 innings behind the plate within the . Lower than three weeks out from the season-opening journey to Japan, there is no such thing as a concern about him lacking the beginning of the season.
However as Smith and the crew strive to determine the explanations behind his drop in manufacturing and create a sport plan for a bounce-back efficiency, the ankle is one thing he must maintain managing.
“You are able to do all types of remedy and the whole lot,” Smith mentioned. “However the one factor that actually heals it’s relaxation.”
Precisely why his ankle has bothered him this lengthy is unclear — “We’re trying extra into why possibly it’s not going away,” he mentioned — however Roberts confirmed that surgical procedure by no means was an choice.
“It’s a bone bruise that’s deep, clearly,” Roberts mentioned. “4 months hasn’t helped the ache go away.”
Neither Smith nor Roberts might say how a lot it influenced final 12 months’s struggles on the plate.
“It may need a little bit bit,” Smith mentioned. “Nevertheless it didn’t harm actually the swing. Possibly I might’ve compensated. I don’t know. However operating was the one factor it actually affected.”
Roberts provided a barely completely different perspective, saying he does “consider the foot was type of impeding the swing.”
“He’ll by no means use that as an excuse,” Roberts mentioned. “However I feel that definitely performed a component.”
The excellent news: Smith mentioned his swing is in a greater spot than through the second half of final 12 months, one thing he credited to adjustments in his mechanics; principally, staying extra contained in the ball to create “room for my fingers to work.”
“There are undoubtedly some mechanical issues I used to be doing final 12 months that I want to scrub up,” Smith mentioned. “So labored on all of them offseason. Feels good. Swing feels prefer it’s in a great spot.”
Roberts is hopeful the ankle shall be much less of an obstacle, banking on the membership’s franchise catcher, who nonetheless is taken into account the most effective hitters at his place, with the ability to play at a excessive stage once more.
“It’s a kind of issues that he’s simply going to should take care of it,” Roberts mentioned. “However I feel proper now he’s in a very great place.”
