Dodgers call up top prospect Rushing, DFA Barnes

LOS ANGELES -- When Dalton Rushing's phone started buzzing around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, he was initially worried that something might be wrong. Then he saw that it was his manager, Scott Hennessy, calling. It didn't take Hennessy long to break the news: Rushing was getting his first call to the Majors.

Without caring what time it was, Rushing began making calls, reaching out to every family member who would likely make the trip to Dodger Stadium. All but one picked up.

"My mother just so happened to be the one that didn't answer after trying with five calls," Rushing said. "I don't blame her. She's a deep sleeper. I got a hold of her like first thing in the morning, and obviously it was a pretty good phone call.”

Less than 12 hours after getting the call, Rushing was on a plane to Los Angeles. The Dodgers had a puzzle on their hands with their top prospect -- and the No. 15 overall prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline -- who is blocked from a starting role by Will Smith. But with the way he was hitting in the Minors, he forced the team's hand.

The solution ended up being a tough one, as the Dodgers designated for assignment their longest-tenured position player, Austin Barnes, in order to add Rushing to the 40-man roster and activate him ahead of Wednesday's game against the A's.

"This was certainly a tough conversation. Austin is a Dodger for life," manager Dave Roberts said. "He helped us win the championship. Caught the last pitch in 2020, in the World Series, and he's done a lot of great things in the community, for the Dodgers, for myself, personally.

"I just think that for us right now, with what Dalton Rushing is doing on the performance side, it's an opportunity to challenge him, expand his growth, give him an opportunity to log some Major League games and essentially give him some runway."

In 2024, Rushing was named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year after posting an .896 OPS with 26 home runs between Double-A Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The Dodgers originally selected Rushing in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Louisville.

The Dodgers have believed that Rushing's bat is Major League ready for quite some time. The 24-year-old slashed .308/.424/.514 with five home runs in 31 games this year for Oklahoma City. The biggest question surrounding Rushing is where he would play.

For now, Roberts laid out the answer: Rushing is expected to catch twice per week, spelling Smith, who last year saw his offensive production fade over the course of a season where he started a career-high 117 games behind the plate. The younger backstop will also pick up pinch-hit at-bats, but when he's not in the lineup, the Dodgers want Rushing to really focus on building relationships with the pitching staff.

"I'm the rookie. I'm the young guy. That's my job," Rushing said. "And essentially, if I show up here every day and I play three days a week, if I can help the team win those other three, four days, it's pretty special and it's pretty valuable."

Because Smith is under contract through 2033, the Dodgers experimented with having Rushing play left field last year. This year, he got the occasional start at first base. But general manager Brandon Gomes has made it clear that the organization wants Rushing to develop at catcher rather than be a quasi-utility man.

That means less playing time behind a healthy Smith, but the team believes that being around the game at the big league level will help Rushing's development.

"In one sense, to not take at-bats every day, you could see some downside," Roberts said. "But I think that us talking internally, having him here in this environment, around our pitchers, around our coaches, understand how we game plan, understanding Major League hitters, and then to, most importantly, log Major League at-bats, I think just net sum was more positive."

Rushing isn't used to limited playing time, but he's embracing his role with the big league club.

"It's my job to show up here and one, help the team win, but two, just make [Smith's] job as easy as possible," Rushing said. "He's going to make my job easy, but also, there's a helping hand that I can give to make his job easy as well."