Dodgers C Will Smith to return from IL for wild-card series

All-Star catcher Will Smith will be activated from the injured list by the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in advance of Tuesday night's wild-card opener against the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Smith, 30, has played just one game since Sept. 4 because of a right hand injury that finally was diagnosed as a hairline fracture after Smith saw action on Sept. 9. Smith batted .296 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs in 110 games this season. In seven seasons, all with the Dodgers, the three-time All-Star is a career .264 hitter with 128 home runs and 442 RBIs in 722 games. The Dodgers will have three catchers on their roster for the first-round series, adding both Ben Rortvedt and rookie Dalton Rushing. The roster also will include 11 pitchers, although manager Dave Roberts will have 12 available with two-way player Shohei Ohtani lined up to start Game 3 of the series, if the contest is necessary. Veteran left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who has announced his retirement effective at the end of the team's playoff run, is not on the roster after he started Sunday's regular-season finale and went 5 1/3 innings. He is expected to be added if Los Angeles advances. The bullpen will include right-hander Roki Sasaki, a starter who returned from a shoulder injury during the last week of the regular season and had two effective relief appearances. While Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani are lined up as starters in the series, two other members of the rotation — Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow — are on the roster and available out of the bullpen. Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto, who played 138 games this season and batted .199, was not included for the wild-card round. The club added speedy outfielder Justin Dean, who made his major league debut earlier this season and played in 18 games with just two at-bats. Left-handed reliever Anthony Banda, who made a team-high 71 appearances, also was left off the roster. The Dodgers still will have four lefties in the bullpen. –Field Level Media

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