Will Smith is used to getting banged up. It comes with the territory of being a Major League Baseball catcher.

But the starting backstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers has been dealing with a bone bruise on his ankle for months and it isn’t from catching.

It has been nine months since Smith slid awkwardly into second base against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in June. In an attempt to break up a double-play, Smith slid late and rolled his left ankle.

“(It) just stuck around all year and didn’t get better in the offseason,” Smith said Saturday.

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Despite the injury, he remained in the game and didn’t miss any time, starting a career-high 117 games at catcher while managing the bone bruise in his ankle with daily treatment.

“It wasn’t, like, horrible,” he contined. “There were definitely different days. … I don’t think it affected anything. Something to manage really.”

Smith gave his ankle some time to rest this offseason but he still felt some lingering pain during the first five innings of his Cactus League debut.

“You can do all sorts of treatment and everything,” Smith said, “but the only thing that really heals it is rest. We’re looking more into why maybe it’s not going away. Sometimes it just takes a while.”

After signing a 10-year, $140 million extension last March, Smith started strong, batting .347 with a .929 OPS through 30 games in 2024.

However, his production declined, hitting just .215 the rest of the season and posting career lows in batting average (.247), on-base percentage (.327), slugging (.433), and OPS (.760). He struggled even more after the All-Star break, batting .206 with five home runs in 48 games and just .143 in the postseason.

While he didn’t mention his ankle injury at the time, he now admits it “might have” contributed to his offensive decline.

Manager Dave Roberts actually suggested that it was the ankle that contributed to his struggles at the plate.

“I think last year, there was a lot of pitches that he was missing,” Roberts said. “I do believe the foot was kind of impeding the swing. I don’t know if he’s been able to manage it. But I think right now, he’s in a really good spot.”

Smith has spent time cleaning up his swing with some “super technical stuff” and is looking forward to a better 2025.