July 19th, 2019 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Let’s face it, there is no such thing as a good injury in baseball, especially when you are talking about one of a team’s top-ranked prospects and a huge fan favorite. But when words like ‘tried to stay in the game’ and ‘He’s done’ were initially used to describe an injury suffered by Dodgers fourth overall-ranked prospect and huge fan-favorite catcher Will Smith after he was struck on the right wrist when he and Oklahoma City Dodgers right-hander Josh Sborz got their signals crossed, it is understandable that Dodger fans thought the absolute worst.
Smith tried to remain in the game, but after airmailing a couple of practice throw into center field, he was removed from the game by OKC Dodgers manager Travis Barbary.
As you would expect, word of Smith’s “He’s done” injury spread like wildfire over social media and among Will Smith fans – and there are many – who were left thinking the absolute worst.
Thankfully, late Thursday afternoon, OKC Dodgers Director of Communications and Broadcasting Alex Freedman replied to a tweet by Orange County Register Dodgers beat writer Bill Plunkett that gave Dodger fans – both OKC and Los Angeles – a huge sigh of relief:
Although Smith was not used in Thursday afternoon’s game against the Iowa Cubs (Cubs), the mere fact that he could have was very reassuring.
In the nine games that Smith appeared in with the major league Dodgers, the 24-year-old Louisville, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2016 (out of the University of Louisville) went 7-for-26 (.269) with one double, three home runs (including an exciting pinch-hit walk-off solo home run on June 1, 2019 off of Phillies foul-mouthed closer Hector Neris), with six runs batted in. He also posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in his eight games behind the plate in 69 total chances.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
In his 57 games with the OKC Dodgers this season, Smith is slashing a remarkable .275 / .378 / .609 / .987 with 11 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs and 51 RBI. He also has a very good .990 fielding percentage as OKC’s primary catcher. As a basis for comparison, 36-year-old Dodgers catcher Russell Martin is hitting .225 with a .994 FPCT and 29-year-old Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes .205 with a .992 FPCT with the big league Dodgers.
Read into this what you will, but Smith belongs in Los Angeles, not Oklahoma City.
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Posted in 
You know, I can’t even begin to tell you and the others on here just how big a bullet the Dodgers ended up dodging (NO pun intended, mind you) after finding out that Will Smith’s hand injury from that ill-fated cross-up late in that game the other day (you’ve been put “on notice”, Josh Sborz!) wasn’t season-ending. If you DO happen to frequent this site Andrew Friedman, let me start off by saying:
PLEASE GET WILL SMITH THE HELL OUT OF AAA-BALL AND PUT HIM BACK ON THE PARENT CLUB ROSTER WHERE HE TRULY BELONGS!!!!!!
It’s bad enough you dealt Travis d’Arnaud to your old club for nothing more than chump change, especially with your current starting C Austin Barnes looking more and more like he needs to be the one sent back down to OKC to “work on some things”. Smith is not only MLB-ready RIGHT NOW, he’s a definite key piece (possibly the most important one outside of getting a legit closer replacement for Kenley Jansen) to your nearly-complete WS puzzle this year and perhaps even beyond.
So yeah, just had to air it out on here because somebody had to (lol).
😉
Right on target, Manuel! Barnes hit a few balls hard, the last couple of games, but enough is enough, he just can’t hit! Also, people all over the world, got to see our lousy bullpen, blow another on YouTube, yesterday! Andrew: Bring the kid up, already and option Barnes to work his problems out!!! And go get us a few bullpen pieces, we can rely on!!! Let’s go Blue!!!
@Dodgers @okc_dodgers @will_smith30 @azfreedman @B_ri_Brown https://t.co/9KLDECgcrQ
9 major league games and 2 walk-off HR’s. Reminds me of another Dodger #16.
How about “Corporal Clutch”?