The Los Angeles Dodgers have called up catcher prospect Dalton Rushing, the team announced Wednesday. The Dodgers will open up an active roster spot for Rushing by designating backup catcher Austin Barnes for assignment. Barnes, the longest-tendured Dodger position player, has been with the team since 2015.
Rushing, 24, has thus far spent the 2025 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he’s batted .308/.424/.514 with five home runs and 21 walks in 31 games. For his minor-league career, the former second-rounder out of the University of Louisville has slashed .277/.412/.519 across parts of four minor-league seasons.
Coming into the current season, CBS Sports ranked Rushing as the No. 22 overall prospect and the top prospect in a still-strong Dodgers system. Here’s part of R.J. Anderson’s write-up of Rushing:
“Rushing has primarily served as a backstop during his professional career, making it notable that the Dodgers shifted him to left field on a nearly exclusive basis after promoting him to Triple-A. (Los Angeles, you may have heard, has a good catcher in place for the next nine years.) Rushing is the rare catching prospect with the bat to play far down the defensive spectrum. He’s an on-base machine who seldom expands his strike zone to chase bad pitches. He has more than enough juice to keep pitchers honest, too, having averaged a 90 mph exit velocity during his time in Triple-A. Rushing even had a minimal platoon split, posting an almost identical OPS against lefties and righties alike. He’s all but certain to play a role in the majors in 2025. Stay tuned to find out with which team and at what position.”
Anderson indeed projected Rushing to arrive in the majors this spring.
The Dodgers of course have the stalwart Will Smith as their primary catcher, but Rushing in his minor-league career has also seen significant time at first base and left field. Manager Dave Roberts said before Wednesday’s game that Rushing is expected to start behind the plate twice a week and get pinch-hitting opportunities, but will not play the outfield for now.
As for the reigning-champion Dodgers, they enter Wednesday’s slate of games at 27-15 and with a slim half-game lead over the San Diego Padres for first place in the tough National League West.
