PHOENIX — The moment didn’t make highlight reels. The hit won’t go down in an official stat book.
But on Feb. 28, in the bottom of the ninth inning of a spring training game against the Angels at Camelback Ranch, top Dodgers prospect Dalton Rushing stepped up to the plate, saw the winning runs aboard, and recognized an opportunity to make another impression.
In a 1-and-0 count, in a left-on-left matchup, Rushing stayed back on an elevated, tailing sinker and smacked an opposite-field, walk-off double into the left-field corner to secure the Dodgers’ 6-5 win.
There was no dogpile. Rushing himself hardly showed much emotion, other than pumping both fists briefly in the air.
But in a camp that has been all about cementing his place on the cusp of the big leagues — and positioning himself for a potential MLB debut at some point this year — the 24-year-old catcher nonetheless relished the memory when recounting it several days later from his locker.
“Obviously, it’s spring training, there’s 30,000 less fans here,” he said. “But it builds trust with the staff here. It kind of shows like, ‘Hey, he can handle the big moments.’”
Thus has been the theme of the spring for Rushing, the club’s 2022 first-round pick and 2024 Minor League Player of the Year.
Over three seasons in the Dodgers farm system, the fast-rising slugger has hit the lights out at every stop, racking up 49 total home runs, 168 RBIs, a .273 batting average and a .930 OPS. Last year, he reached triple-A by the end of the season and briefly seemed like a potential late-season call-up as the team experimented with him in left field.
The phone, however, never rang.
And this winter, the organization decided to refocus his defensive work primarily at catcher, with general manager Brandon Gomes saying the position has to be “his meat and potatoes.”
“[We want to see him] continue to get better there,” Gomes added at the winter meetings.
So, in big-league camp this spring, Rushing has gone about trying to garner trust from the MLB staff on both sides of the ball.
In the early days of the preseason, he was thrust into leading “mock meetings” with the team’s pitching coaches and game-planning staff, having to explain how he would handle certain pitchers and attack specific opponents in the box. He has been busy behind the plate in bullpens, live batting practice sessions and Cactus League games, trying to refine his framing and receiving skills while honing his ability to call pitches.
And offensively, after going hitless in 10 spring training at-bats last year, he has stopped pressing and started showing coaches that, “he’s not gonna chase, he’s gonna control the zone,” Rushing said.
“As long as they trust me,” he continued, “I think it makes it a little easier.”
As spring camp winds down this week, the seeds of such trust have indeed started to take root.
While his walk-off double was one of only two hits he has collected in seven at-bats, Rushing has walked a staggering eight times in Cactus League play, entering Sunday with a .684 on-base percentage.
He has handled the unenviable task of being a late-game replacement behind the dish, navigating a revolving door of pitchers with a confidence that has struck club personnel.
“He doesn’t have anything to prove, but he’s got a lot to learn,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And this year, I think he’s slowing down, taking in a lot of conversations, information, and having a really good camp.”
“He’s handled it pretty well,” added bench coach Danny Lehmann, a key part of the Dodgers’ game-planning department. “I think he’s been exposed to some things that he wasn’t in the minor leagues that he’s appreciative of. I think it’s the same deal with the game-planning and the catching and the speed of the game and all that. That’s always gonna be a learning curve there. So I think he’s really working on that.”
Rushing said his goal in camp has been on “honing in on the mental side” of his catching position; using his time around the Dodgers’ MLB roster to, for example, pick the brain of starting catcher Will Smith about his own development process as a young big-leaguer.
“Understanding how to turn lineups over, how to save pitches, how to navigate three relievers through four innings, things like that,” Rushing said. “Basically, how can I speed up my process to be as prepared as [possible] for my first year in the big leagues.”
Rushing’s hope is for this to be the year. His bat, Roberts said early in camp, is already good enough to “hit in the big leagues right now.”
His path, however, is somewhat blocked. Smith and backup catcher Austin Barnes remain on the MLB roster. The outfield is full of veteran sluggers and utility players. Freddie Freeman is entrenched at first base (another position where Rushing has experience). Shohei Ohtani is an everyday designated hitter.
And Rushing’s catching abilities, while improved, remain a work in progress; at least relative to the high standard the Dodgers expect out of their backstops.
“There’s been some things that he’s done that have been really good, and there’s some things that he’s learned from and that we can address,” Lehmann said. “But that’s the point of spring training, to get as many reps as he can.”
That’s why, for now, Rushing’s focus has been on earning trust. At some point, the need for an impact hitter like him will likely arise. And when it does, he wants there to be no questions about his big-league preparedness — behind the plate, as a hitter, or in the kind of late-game situation he encountered earlier this spring.
“He’s well beyond his years as far as his age,” Roberts said. “He’s a special kind of ballplayer.”
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