Dodgers give Dalton Rushing a runway in majors

Plan is for Rushing to catch roughly two games per week and see pinch-hitting opportunities in other games. He’ll make his first major league start on Thursday behind the plate against the A’s.

LOS ANGELES — New Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing played a Triple-A game in Round Rock, Texas on Tuesday night, and got a late call from Scott Hennessey, the Oklahoma City Comets manager.

“It was about 1 a.m. last night, and I was almost asleep,” Rushing said Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. “He beat around the bush for a minute then he got to the news and basically said, ‘Hey, you need to start packing.’”

Rushing did get to packing, but also called all the family members he knew would be headed to Los Angeles to see his first major league start behind the plate on Thursday. All of them answered the call from Rushing in the middle of the night, except for his mom, even though he tried five times.

“She’s a deep sleeper,” Rushing explained.

Rushing himself got some sleep, as he didn’t fly out of Texas until noon central time on Wednesday.

Rushing started 31 games in left field late last season as a potential avenue for a big league call up. He’s started once there this year in Triple-A, and it doesn’t look like that’s in the plans at the moment, even with Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman out likely the rest of this week.

“I don’t see any outfield, it could change,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I see him probably catching two times a week and taking pinch-hit at-bats. The though was to get him more familiar with our pitchers. catch bullpens, take at-bats off the bench, and certainly getting starts.”

The Dodgers had Rushing heavily involved during game-planning meetings during spring training, trying to accelerate his major league readiness behind the plate. Rushing said he also learned by catching rehab assignments in Oklahoma City by Clayton Kershaw and Evan Phillips, as well as watching Michael Kopech prepare over the last week.

“It’s pretty cool,” Rushing said. “I get to know these guys a little better, and understand the way they work.”

Rushing has hit well at every minor league level since getting drafted in 2022, including hitting .308/.424/.514 with a 145 wRC+ with Oklahoma City. He was a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport heading into the season.

Rushing homered on Tuesday night for the Comets, just hours before he received news of his call-up.

“The bat has always played. It’s been his carrying tool. The receiving has gotten much better, the arm strength is there,” Roberts said. “The relationship with the pitchers has continued to grow. All the reports on the Triple-A side, just improving all the way around.”

The Dodgers are betting that Rushing will provide an all-around upgrade over Austin Barnes, but it didn’t make it any easier to cut ties with the club’s longest-tenured position player, in his 11th season with the team.

“This was certainly a tough conversation. Austin Barnes is a Dodger for life. He helped us win a championship, caught the last pitch in the World Series in 2020,” Roberts said. “He’s done a lot of great things in the community, for the Dodgers, and for myself personally.

“I just think right now with what Dalton is doing on the performance side, it’s an opportunity to challenge him, expand his growth, and give him an opportunity to log some major league games, and essentially give him some runway.”

Rushing isn’t starting on Wednesday, but will obviously be available off the bench. He didn’t seem too concerned about a potentially limited role for now, but rather saw it as an opportunity to be in the majors.

“You look at who you’re surrounded by, and it’s some of the best baseball players. Me personally, I think I can take in information pretty well. Regardless of how much playing time, that’s up to me to show up and play,” Rushing said. “It’ll be different, but I’m the young guy. That’s my job. Essentially, if I show up here every day, play three days a week, and if I can help in those other three to four days, it’s pretty special.”