Dodgers Try Dalton Rushing In Left Field At Triple-A
Dalton Rushing is going to hit his way to the big leagues. Where he is going to play once he gets there is a puzzle the Dodgers are trying to solve.
The 23-year-old Rushing earned a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City in early August. That was not surprising given that he hit .271/.378/.513 with 17 home runs in 77 games for Double-A Tulsa.
What was surprising was the assignment once he got to OKC. Rushing will play left field, with Diego Cartaya and Hunter Feduccia handling the catching.
“Obviously we have a very strong catching situation right now,” Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes said, referring to all-star Will Smith, who signed a 10-year extension earlier this year.
“(Rushing) is a really good athlete. He actually has really good foot speed for a catcher,” Gomes said. “Talking to our player development group, our scouting group: He’s played a little bit of first base. Do you think he can kick out to left field? Yeah, I actually do. I think he’d be okay there.
“So let’s see and keep it as an option. And maybe in the future he catches and plays left field, because the bat is special special.”
The move is “absolutely not” a sign that the Dodgers are giving up on Rushing as a catcher, Gomes said. Rushing was late to the position after playing behind Henry Davis at Louisville. But Gomes said he has developed his catching skills quickly since the Dodgers drafted him in the second round in 2022.
“It’s a great arm. He has the leadership quality of a catcher,” Gomes said. “He’s actually improved as a framer and a blocker. He’s a decent framer.”
More telling for Rushing’s future is not his position but how quickly the Dodgers determine he is ready to hit major league pitching.
“That was part of the reason for getting him to Triple-A and letting him continue to progress,” Gomes said. “He’s handled velocity. He’s handled lefthanded pitching. He’s kind of checked all the boxes at Double-A that we needed him to.”
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
— Shortstop Alex Freeland also earned a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City in early August. The Dodgers’ 2022 third-rounder has progressed from High-A this season, hitting a combined 14 home runs in 109 games with an .833 OPS at three levels.
— The Dodgers reacquired outfielder Donovan Casey, signing him to a minor league contract after he batted .348 in 79 games for York of the independent Atlantic League. Casey, 28, was drafted by the Dodgers in 2017 and was one of four players—including Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz—sent to the Nationals in the July 2021 trade for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. Casey was called up by Washington in April 2022 but didn’t appear in a game and spent the season at Triple-A.
