Dalton Rushing trying to cement his place in Dodgers star-studded team

PHOENIX –– Last year, Dalton Rushing felt like he was playing on “thin ice.”

As a rookie back-up catcher with the juggernaut Dodgers, he spent most of his debut season almost walking on eggshells.

Maybe on another team, or in a less star-studded clubhouse, his big-league introduction would’ve felt different. In many organizations, his arrival as a top-ranked, power-hitting catching prospect would have been a very big deal.

But with the Dodgers, the former first-round draft pick got a reality check. 

While he would’ve liked to stand out, he instead needed to learn how to blend in.

“I was told to view it as an internship,” Rushing said of his rookie season, in which he batted just .204 over 155 plate appearances while spending most of his time riding the bench and building a rapport with pitchers behind the scenes.

“I don’t like viewing it like that, I don’t like viewing this game as an internship,” he added. “But at the same time, I see the perspective they were coming from, and the idea of what they wanted to do last year. They wanted to make sure I understand these guys as much as possible moving forward.”

Now, the 25-year-old is ready for the next step.

“I by no means anticipate being a role player like this for my whole career, and I don’t think they do either,” he told the California Post on Monday. “But I think last year was a really good learning year for me … I learned a lot about myself and understand the game a little better now.”

Where Rushing fits into the Dodgers’ long-term plans, of course, remains up in the air.

His primary position is blocked, with All-Star backstop Will Smith under contract for the next eight years. Other pathways to playing time also appear complicated, with everything from first base to DH to even the outfield –– a position Rushing said he volunteered to play again this season, before the team signed Kyle Tucker –– occupied by established MLB stars.

His name has been in trade rumors before. It’s likely such speculation will percolate again.

But for now, Rushing is doing the only thing he can: Embracing his reality as a part-time player, and preparing himself for unforeseen potential opportunities.

“I think there could be avenues and opportunities where I get on the field more regularly this year,” he said. “And it’s up to me to take advantage of that and show them what I can do to help this team win.”

On the field, Rushing failed to capitalize on the chances he did get last season, after being called up to replace Austin Barnes as the team’s backup catcher in mid-May.

He started swinging too hard, losing the simple mechanics that helped him post a .933 OPS with 54 home runs in his minor-league career. He chased too many pitches, resulting in a 37.4% strikeout rate that ranked fourth-highest in the majors among players with 150 plate appearances.

As a result, he was passed over when the doorway to more playing time finally did open, supplanted by trade deadline acquisition Ben Rortvedt early in the playoffs while Smith was out with a hand fracture.

And in hindsight, Rushing acknowledged, “I worried too much about how sporadic the playing time was, instead of worrying about the consistency of where my body is at, where my swing is at.”

“It felt,” he continued, “as if I had to step in the box and show these guys I could hit.”

That’s why Rushing has tried to reframe his mindset this spring.

He feels like he has now forged strong relationships with the team’s pitching staff, something he hopes will “take some stress off the bat” and “let it do its thing a little better.”

He has also adopted a new mindset at the plate.

“Just be a hitter,” he said. “I’m blessed enough to not have to try and hit a homer to hit a homer, or try and hit a double to hit a double. My goal this year is, let’s see if I can hit 200 singles.”

That’s an exaggerated number, of course. If everyone stays healthy, Rushing might be lucky to get 200 total at-bats.

But it’s the mentality he knows he has to have to carve out a place on the team –– to be more of an impact player now, and remain a key part of the club’s future as well.

“At the end of the day, doing damage every week will keep me in the lineup,” he said. “And I’m gonna do whatever I have to do to try and find myself in the lineup as much as possible.”