Dalton Rushing was supposed to be in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ lineup on Saturday night.
They announced the starting nine and everything, and Rushing was set to play.
But then as game time approached, the Dodgers shared a new lineup on social media. Rushing had been scratched.
It’s not immediately clear what the situation is, but it’s clear that it could be cause for concern. Late injury worries or other potential issues aren’t what the Dodgers need.
Yes, they’re the Dodgers, and they’ve got the depth to withstand pretty much anything.
But it also could take some misfortune to stop them from three-peating as World Series champions, and other teams will be hoping for some luck to be on their side for once.
A Rushing scratch, if nothing else, bears watching.
Original Dodgers Lineup
The Dodgers’ original lineup on Saturday had Rushing in the 7-spot as the designated hitter.
Hunter Feduccia was slated to catch, with Will Smith getting the night off.
The rest of the order went Tommy Edman, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Kyle Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez, then Rushing, Alex Freeland and Feduccia.
Tyler Glasnow is on the mound.
The new lineup put out by the Dodgers took Rushing out in favor of a different DH.
Dodgers Lineup With No Dalton Rushing
The Dodgers initially replaced Rushing in the lineup with Alex Call as the DH.
They also mixed up the order.
It now went Edman, Freeman, Betts, Muncy, Tucker, Hernandez, Freeman, Feduccia, Call.
The 8- and 9-hitters moved up a spot, and Call got the last spot in the batting lineup.
But wait — that wasn’t it. They released a third lineup iteration about five minutes after that.
The lineup put out at 4:08 p.m. Pacific time was:
- Edman
- Freeman
- Betts
- Tucker
- Hernandez (now at DH)
- Feduccia
- Freeland
- Call (now in left field)
- Kike Hernandez (now at third base)
That’s because they also scratched Max Muncy.
This is all reacting in real time, so it’s hard to know what the whole scoop is.
Still, scratching Rushing and then Muncy back to back isn’t an ideal situation for the Dodgers to be in.
There isn’t a team more equipped to withstand this than the Dodgers, but it’s also true that there aren’t a lot of ways to make changes to the roster this time of year. There aren’t trades or anything like that.
The Dodgers will be hoping that whatever is going on with Rushing and Muncy can resolve itself sooner rather than later — certainly by the time they need them in Octboer.
Dodgers’ Dalton Rushing Change Raises Concern, Followed By Max Muncy