The Los Angeles Dodgers surprisingly activated Dalton Rushing from the injured list on Tuesday after Dave Roberts previously noted that he may not be able to catch again this year.
Rushing is still not ready to start working behind the plate, which is why the Dodgers have three catchers right now. However, the team needed some offense and felt like he had progressed enough to be a bench bat.
Even though the initial belief was that a UCL injury was going to keep Rushing from playing behind the plate again this year, he has a chance to play defense at some point. According to The Athletic's Katie Woo, he has been playing catch and could start catching bullpens soon.
"Rushing started ramping up catch play last week," wrote Woo on Wednesday. "He’s throwing out to 100 feet in the outfield and thinks he’ll start catching bullpens in the next few days, and said he believes he’ll be ready to catch by the postseason."
Getting Rushing cleared to catch in games would be huge for the Dodgers. They could cut ties with Hunter Fedducia in that case and call up an outfielder. Many expected them to add an outfielder when the rosters expanded on Tuesday, but they opted to trust that Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández would figure things out.
Rushing is not accustomed to being used as a pinch hitter exclusively, but his bat is what the Dodgers need right now. He was having a solid offensive season while Will Smith was out. He will have to adjust to his new role, but he can certainly help the team right now.
The Dodgers went 13-14 in August, scoring the sixth-fewest runs in baseball. The offense needs all the help it can get, and Smith and Rushing's returns will be a big boost. Perhaps when Rushing is ready to catch in games again, the team will move on from Fedducia to call up James Tibbs III to help the outfield's offensive production.