Dave Roberts’ Honest Admission About Will Smith Signals a Longer Wait Than Expected

Will Smith’s neck injury is taking longer to shake than the Dodgers anticipated, and for the first time, manager Dave Roberts said as much. Smith still hasn’t resumed baseball activities. That means the All-Star catcher will be out until at least after the All-Star break.

“Certainly longer than all of us expected,” Roberts told Katie Woo of The Athletic on Wednesday, a day after he picked up career win No. 1,000.

There’s no long-term concern here. But Roberts’ admission was notable because managers tend to play it close to the vest with important players. He didn’t. He just said it’s taking more time than the team figured. That’s the kind of honest update that tells you the club’s internal timeline slipped.

It’s not ideal for a team that’s built for October. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 56-30 and a 12.5-game lead in the NL West. They can afford to be patient. But the trade deadline is creeping up, and catcher is a position where depth gets tested fast. Smith isn’t just a bat in the middle of the order. He runs the pitching staff. He controls the game behind the plate. That’s not something you easily replicate.

Los Angeles can absorb a short-term injury better than most because of how deep the roster is, but Smith’s absence puts a spotlight on how the front office handles the position going forward. Backup catchers Austin Barnes and Hunter Feduccia have filled in, but neither provides the same offensive consistency or the same rapport with the rotation.

Roberts’ message was a mix of patience and real talk. The recovery is taking longer than expected. The Dodgers aren’t panicking. But they also aren’t pretending everything’s fine. Smith will need to ramp up once he gets cleared, and that ramp-up will push his return into the second half of the season.

For a team that’s already thinking about October, every week without their starting catcher matters. The Dodgers can hold the line right now. But the longer this drags on, the more attention turns to what they might do before the deadline to shore up the position behind the plate.