Ben

Rortvedt

Rortvedt, who was picked up from the Mets at the trade deadline, went 5-for-27 while helping to fill in for Will Smith and Dalton Rushing last month.

The Dodgers could certainly use Smith back since they’re rolling with Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia as their catching tandem with Dalton Rushing (elbow) on the injured list. The 31-year-old franchise backstop resumed baseball activities in late July and figures to make it back to Los Angeles by the end of August. He’s going to need a minor league rehab assignment given how much time he’s missed.

With both Dalton Rushing (elbow) and Will Smith (neck) on the injured list, Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt are the two catchers on the Dodgers’ active roster. Both hit left-handed, and today’s start is against a left-handed pitcher, so it’s still unclear who will see the majority of starts against righties. This will likely remain a muddled situation that we don’t want to chase in fantasy leagues.

No surprise after Rushing was scratched from Sunday’s series finale against the Red Sox. It certainly explains why the Dodgers went out and acquired both Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia at the trade deadline. They’ll need to cobble things together behind the plate until Will Smith (neck) is ready to return in a couple weeks.

Technically, there are games happening shortly after Monday’s trade deadline. The Dodgers picked up backup catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Mets in a small deal, which seems to signal that Rushing could be headed to the injured list. The 25-year-old was scratched from Sunday’s series finale against the Red Sox with a minor arm issue. There should be some clarity on his status in the coming days.

Dalton Rushing is dealing with minor arm irritation, whatever that means, and Eliezer Alfonzo struggled behind the dish on Sunday Night Baseball, so the Dodgers are bringing back an old friend. Rortvedt has not appeared in the big leagues this season and is hitting .234/.319/.414 in 167 plate appearances in Triple-A. McDermott was a former intriguing starting pitching prospect for the Orioles who the Dodgers designated for assignment on July 31st.

Assuming he sticks with the team, Rortvedt will be functional catcher depth for the Mets after going unclaimed on waivers.

The Mets claimed Rortvedt off waivers from the Dodgers in February, but he did not make the team as the backup catcher. If he goes unclaimed, he could choose to stay in the organization in the minors.

The 28-year-old backstop had just been claimed off of waivers from the Reds last week, but he’ll change jerseys once again as he joins the Mets. Rortvedt will provide quality catching depth for the Mets and can continue to be ignored for fantasy purposes.

It was a fun five days on the active roster. We’ll see if any other team wants to take a gander on Rortvedt’s one-year, $1.25 million contract on waivers. If not, he’ll likely remain with the Dodgers.