Hunter Feduccia

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.

A little additional catching depth can’t hurt, right? The Dodgers are dealing with some razor-thin margins at the position while Will Smith works his way back from a neck injury. Dalton Rushing is also banged up at the moment. Feduccia began his career in Los Angeles and broke into the majors with the Dodgers back in 2024. He’s merely a depth addition.

Feduccia’s homer off Shane Baz came in his 182nd plate appearance since he debuted with the Dodgers in 2024. He’s up to .278/.365/.370 in 65 plate appearances on the season, which is pretty encouraging in light of how much he struggled for the Rays last year (.151/.265/.209 in 102 plate appearances). He was taking a backseat to Nick Fortes initially this season, but he’s now getting the nod most of the time against right-handers.

Feduccia was really disappointing after being acquired from the Dodgers at last year’s deadline — he hit .151 with no homers in 102 plate appearances — but since the Rays declined to upgrade over the winter, he’s probably going to make the team alongside Nick Fortes. That Feduccia is a lefty could allow the Rays to go with a true platoon behind the plate, but it seems likely that Fortes will get the majority of the playing time initially.

Although he usually has the platoon advantage, the left-handed-hitting Feduccia is batting .145/.267/.194 in 75 plate appearances since being acquired by the Rays at the trade deadline. The Rays did a full reset behind the plate by trading Danny Jansen and acquiring Feduccia and Nick Fortes in July, but the position still seems like a question mark heading into next year. If they don’t upgrade, then Dominic Keegan could factor in as a potential alternative behind the plate.