![\"Will](\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/thumbor\/gY3blC1E_qrFycNjz-iYIIds_7s=\/0x0:5208x2604\/fit-in\/1200x600\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25893769\/usa_today_25446228.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWill Smith is used to getting banged up. It comes with the territory of being a Major League Baseball catcher.<\/p>\n
But the starting backstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers has been dealing with a bone bruise on his ankle for months and it isn\u2019t from catching.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It) just stuck around all year and didn\u2019t get better in the offseason,\u201d Smith said Saturday.<\/p>\n
More news: Blake Snell Has a Picture of Clayton Kershaw in His Locker at Dodgers Camp<\/p>\n
Despite the injury, he remained in the game and didn\u2019t miss any time, starting a career-high 117 games at catcher while managing the bone bruise in his ankle with daily treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t, like, horrible,\u201d he contined. \u201cThere were definitely different days. \u2026 I don\u2019t think it affected anything. Something to manage really.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can do all sorts of treatment and everything,\u201d Smith said, \u201cbut the only thing that really heals it is rest. We\u2019re looking more into why maybe it\u2019s not going away. Sometimes it just takes a while.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n After signing a 10-year, $140 million extension last March, Smith started strong, batting .347 with a .929 OPS through 30 games in 2024.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n While he didn\u2019t mention his ankle injury at the time, he now admits it \u201cmight have\u201d contributed to his offensive decline.<\/p>\n Manager Dave Roberts actually suggested that it was the ankle that contributed to his struggles at the plate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think last year, there was a lot of pitches that he was missing,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI do believe the foot was kind of impeding the swing. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s been able to manage it. But I think right now, he\u2019s in a really good spot.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Smith has spent time cleaning up his swing with some \u201csuper technical stuff\u201d and is looking forward to a better 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n