Dalton Rushing: Stats, Savant Data, Age and Contract

Dalton Rushing, 25, cleared concussion protocol on Wednesday and returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers starting lineup for the series finale against the Minnesota Twins, after missing two games following a foul tip off his mask on June 23 in Minneapolis.

The Numbers in 2026

Rushing is batting .252 with eight home runs and 22 RBI across 46 games in 2026, according to Baseball-Reference. His OPS+ stands at 129, meaning he is producing 29 percent above the major league average when adjusted for park and league.

On Baseball Savant, the Statcast metrics are sharper. His average exit velocity sits at 88.9 mph in 2026, with a hard-hit rate of 42.1 percent. His xwOBA is .341 against a wOBA of .359, and his barrel rate is 9.5 percent. The gap between the two weighted on-base metrics indicates he is running slightly above expectation on balls in play, but the contact quality itself is real.

His breakout came during the 2026 season opener. On April 6, he went four-for-four against the Toronto Blue Jays, including two home runs, in what stands as his best single-game performance at the MLB level.

Context: Will Smith's Injury

Rushing became the Dodgers' primary catcher after Will Smith went on the 10-day injured list on June 11 with a stiff neck. Smith received a cortisone shot and has not traveled with the team on the current road trip. The Dodgers expect him to complete a minor league rehabilitation assignment before returning, though no specific date has been confirmed.

With Smith sidelined, Rushing's concussion scare on June 23 was a significant development for the defending World Series champions. A foul tip on the first pitch of the Twins series opener struck his mask, and though he remained in the game for two innings, the Dodgers pulled him for precautionary testing. Backup Chuckie Robinson handled catching duties for the next two games.

Manager Dave Roberts addressed Rushing's status before Tuesday's game, as reported by Dodgers Nation

Rushing passed his second concussion test around 6 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday and was back in the lineup Wednesday, per NBC Sports.

Savant Profile: What the Data Shows

Baseball Savant tracks Rushing under player ID 687221 at the MLB's Statcast platform. The data puts him in elite territory for hard contact among catchers.

His 2024 minor league Statcast numbers told a similar story. According to Baseball America's prospect reports, Rushing posted a 90th percentile exit velocity of 106 mph and a maximum of 111 mph during his time at Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2024.

In 2025, his first MLB season, he batted .204 across 53 games with four home runs before finishing with a .227 career average heading into this year. The 2026 improvement in batting average and contact rate reflects the hard-hit credentials scouts had been tracking since the draft.

College: Louisville Cardinals

Rushing played three years of college baseball at the University of Louisville. He was not drafted out of high school in 2019, Brighton High School in Brighton, Tennessee, where he hit .491 with 11 home runs and 46 RBI as a senior, and enrolled as a freshman at Louisville instead.

He spent his first two seasons backing up Henry Davis, who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. When Davis departed for pro ball, Rushing took over as Louisville's starting catcher for 2022. He made the most of the opportunity.

In 64 games that spring, he slashed .310/.470/.686 with 23 home runs, 62 RBI, and 16 doubles. His 23 home runs were tied for the fourth-most in a single season in Louisville history. He ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in walks, home runs, on-base percentage, and runs.

He earned All-American recognition from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (Second Team), the American Baseball Coaches Association (Third Team), and Perfect Game (Third Team). He also spent time in the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2021, batting .314 with six home runs over 118 at-bats for the Bourne Braves and earning league all-star honors.

Rushing majored in Sport Administration at Louisville.

Age and Draft Background

Rushing was born February 21, 2001, in Memphis, Tennessee, making him 25 years old as of June 2026. He bats left and throws right, standing 6-foot-0 and weighing 220 pounds.

The Dodgers drafted him in the second round, 40th overall, in the 2022 MLB Draft. He signed for a $1,959,390 bonus on July 30, 2022, a deal confirmed by Baseball-Reference and widely reported at the time. He was the third Louisville draftee selected by the Dodgers in the top 40 overall over a seven-year stretch, joining pitcher Bobby Miller (29th overall, 2020) and catcher Will Smith (32nd overall, 2016).

Contract Status

Rushing is under pre-arbitration control, earning a base salary of $790,000 in 2026, according to Spotrac. He is not eligible for salary arbitration until 2029 and is under team control through 2032, when he would first become a free agent.

That timeline gives the Dodgers six more years of cost-controlled production from a catcher who is already out-performing the position average. His pre-arb status also means Los Angeles has no financial pressure to make any roster decisions around him in the near term. He exceeded rookie limits during the 2025 season and is no longer considered a rookie for 2026.

Minor League Path

Rushing moved quickly through the Dodgers' system after signing. He hit .424 in 28 games at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2022 immediately after turning pro. His first professional home run came in his first game at that level on August 4, 2022.

In 2023 he played 89 games at Advanced-A Great Lakes, slashing .228/.404/.452 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI, despite spending two stints on the injured list with a concussion. He was selected for the Futures Game that year.

The 2024 campaign split between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City produced 26 home runs and 85 RBI across 114 games, earning him the Dodgers' Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year award. He began 2025 at Triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .308 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 31 games before his MLB call-up on May 14, 2025. He made his big league debut the following day, May 15, 2025, starting against the Oakland Athletics.