The under-the-radar star having his greatest season but

Catchers aren’t presupposed to hit like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts … however Freeman and Betts’ personal catcher does.

Will Smith is having a celebrity season on the plate for the Dodgers — and actually, he is been doing this for some time.

Smith, who can typically get somewhat misplaced within the shadow of his MVP-winning teammates in L.A., is rivaling them in 2023.

Smith: .292/.407/.508, .914 OPS, 146 OPS+
Freeman: .316/.397/.545, .941 OPS, 151 OPS+
Betts: .257/.353/.503, .857 OPS, 128 OPS+
All stats by means of Saturday

It’s invaluable to have that form of manufacturing coming from the catcher place, and Smith has been doing it since he arrived within the large leagues. He’s had an OPS+ over 120 in all 5 seasons of his profession — meaning he is been over 20% higher than a league common hitter yearly. Smith is one among solely 9 MLB hitters with that degree of consistency during the last 5 years.

OPS+ over 120 yearly since 2019
Min. 100 PA every season (OPS+ so as from 2019)
Will Smith (133, 162, 127, 123, 146)
Freddie Freeman (135, 187, 136, 155, 151)
Mookie Betts (134, 147, 126, 139, 128)
Mike Trout (182, 167, 194, 176, 134)
Aaron Judge (143, 143, 149, 212, 194)
Pete Alonso (147, 122, 133, 146, 128)
Bryce Harper (126, 158, 179, 147, 122)
Juan Soto (142, 217, 175, 148, 163)
Bo Bichette (144, 127, 121, 130, 138)

You’ll discover Smith is preserving his fellow Dodgers stars firm … and that he is the one catcher on that record.

In truth, just one different catcher has even had three seasons with an OPS+ over 120 since 2019. That’s Smith’s fellow NL All-Star finalist Sean Murphy.

Yet by some means, this may be Smith’s first All-Star Game, when he is been probably the most constant offensive catcher in baseball since his Major League debut. It’s the proper time, at the very least, since 2023 is shaping as much as be one of the best full season of his profession.

Smith has at all times been an enormous air-ball hitter, with an enormous leg kick and swing that is harking back to the one Justin Turner used to launch homers in Los Angeles when Smith was developing. About a 3rd of the balls he is hit this season have been fly balls, placing him within the high 15% of MLB, and his 37.6% profession fly-ball fee is tied with Mike Trout for the very best within the Majors over that timespan.

Highest fly ball fee since 2019
Min. 1,000 batted balls in that timespan
1. (tie) Will Smith: 37.6%
1. (tie) Mike Trout: 37.6%
3. Brandon Belt: 36.4%
4. Eugenio Suárez: 35.5%
5. Rhys Hoskins: 34.8%

But this season, Smith’s taken his plate self-discipline — at all times a energy of his — to a fair larger degree.

Smith’s strikeout-to-walk numbers are among the many greatest in baseball. He has a 15.4% stroll fee, rating within the 97th percentile of MLB, and a strikeout fee of simply 13.7%, rating within the ninetieth percentile.

With 37 walks and solely 33 strikeouts in his 241 plate appearances, Smith is the uncommon hitter strolling greater than he strikes out. It’s the primary time in his profession that his walks have outnumbered his K’s, although he additionally got here shut within the shortened 2020 season, which is arguably his greatest within the large leagues over its smaller pattern.

Qualified hitters with extra BB than Ok, 2023
Juan Soto — 71 BB, 68 Ok
Adley Rutschman — 50 BB, 47 Ok
Will Smith — 37 BB, 33 Ok
José Ramírez — 31 BB, 28 Ok
Luis Arraez — 24 BB, 15 Ok

In that respect, too, Smith (and his elite-discipline counterpart within the AL, Rutschman) is having a season not plenty of catchers have nowadays. Since 2010, the one catchers to have a professional hitting season with extra walks than K’s are Joe Mauer (2010 and 2012), Buster Posey (2015) and Alejandro Kirk (2022).

Those catchers who got here earlier than had terrific contact-hitting seasons, however Smith combines his self-discipline with energy. None of these catchers reached the 20-homer mark or a .500 slugging share of their seasons. Smith is on tempo to succeed in each.

The Dodgers have one thing nearly no different staff has in Smith, and that provides one other layer of worth to his numbers. A participant who can hit like Freddie or Mookie whereas additionally taking on behind the plate — the place Smith additionally has a powerful throwing arm and blocking expertise, by the best way — is an enormous aggressive benefit. Putting “All-Star” subsequent to his identify can be good, however having Will Smith is best than having an All-Star.