Will

Smith

The slumping slugger battled cleanup in each of the first two games of the series and was dropped down to sixth against a southpaw in Game 3 on Wednesday. Perhaps the move back to the top of the lineup will provide the offensive jolt that the Dodgers need to stave off elimination and keep their dreams of a three-peat alive. Here’s the full lineup that they will trot out against Brewers’ southpaw Shane Drohan on Thursday: Ohtani (DH), Mookie Betts (SS), Freddie Freeman (1B), Will Smith (C), Kyle Tucker (RF), Teoscar Hernandez (LF), Miguel Rojas (2B), Andy Pages (CF) and Enrique Hernandez (3B).

Smith gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead with a bases-loaded double in the sixth inning off Abner Uribe. It’d be the last run of the night for Los Angeles, and the defending champions are now a loss away from their season coming to a close. Smith has been awful in this postseason, and even with the two-run double he’s hitting just .074 over the first seven games.

There’s nothing wrong with the hard-hitting backstop, it’s just a routine day of rest. Hunter Feduccia will do the catching for the Dodgers and will bat eighth against Giants’ right-hander Carson Seymour on Sunday afternoon in San Francisco.

It’s nothing more than a routine night off for the 31-year-old backstop. Hunter Feduccia will start in his place behind the dish and bat eighth for the Dodgers against Padres’ right-hander Nick Pivetta.

Smith’s only hit of the game left the yard as he took Griffin Canning deep for a solo homer in the seventh inning to extend the Dodgers’ lead. The 31-year-old backstop is up to 10 homers and 34 RBI while hitting .248/.341/.420 across 264 plate appearances. Four of his homers have come since his return from the injured list on September 1 following a three-month absence with a neck injury.

Smith is hitting .250/.362/.521 with three homers in 16 games since coming off the IL on Sept. 1. He was catching a second straight game tonight, so if he plays Sunday, it figures to be as a DH. That seems more likely to happen if Kyle Tucker needs a day off due to his leg.

The Dodgers still want Smith getting plenty of rest after his long IL stint with a neck injury. He’ll get two days off with the off day Thursday and then play two out of three this weekend.

Smith got the scoring started on Tuesday with a solo home run off Nick Lodolo in the first inning. He was later hit by a pitch in the fifth. It was Smith’s seventh home run this season and first since May 29 after missing nearly three months with a neck injury. He’d been off to a slow start in his return, going 2-for-17 so far this month.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week that they’re going to manage Smith’s workload carefully in his return from a neck issue that cost him nearly three months. He’s unlikely to catch back-to-back games to close out the season. He went 1-for-5 with a double and a pair of RBI in his first game back on Tuesday. It’ll be Hunter Fedducia behind the plate in this one.

Smith is finally back from his neck injury after going 4-for-14 with two doubles and a homer in five minor league games. The Dodgers will probably use him fairly carefully this month, but it should be safe to get him back into fantasy lineups. The 31-year-old backstop is handling the catching duties and hitting fifth against the Cardinals on Tuesday in his return from the injured list.