Catcher Will Smith shows how much he was missed as

Even Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who’d never be accused of sporting his feelings on his sleeve, was a little nervous during his monthslong absence because of a persistent neck injury that he won’t be healthy by the end of the season.

“‘It was kind of the ‘who knows how long it’s going to take,’” Smith said when the Dodgers activated him at the start of the month. “But at some point I was going to be fed up and just kind of deal with it.”

It apparently didn’t come to that. And in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, Smith’s fifth time in the lineup since returning from the injured listing, he put the Dodgers forward with a first-inning home run and guided Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal through 7 ⅓ innings of two-run ball.

“He called a great game,” Skubal said of his Team USA teammate. “And the targets that he sets up, and the way that he goes about it, he gives me a ton of confidence back there.”

A neck drawback that was initially anticipated to resolve on its own in a few days turned into a almost three-month IL stint. With the revolving door behind the plate in Smith’s absence, getting him back down the stretch and into the postseason was going to be key.

While Smith was on the IL, backup catcher Dalton Rushing was thrown into the beginning function, studying how to steadiness the defensive accountability of serving as the main backstop at the major-league degree with a want to also contribute offensively.

Rushing appeared to be getting the grasp of it, with Chuckie Robinson and then Eliézer Alfonzo behind him, before he harm his proper elbow proper before the commerce deadline. The Dodgers traded for an fully new catching duo, Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt, who held down the place until Smith’s return.

“It was frustrating early,” Smith said. “Just looking for answers why it was taking longer, but we finally got those answers. And then it was kind of a pretty straightforward process from there. So last month or two hasn’t been too bad.”

Smith and the Dodgers sought a number of medical doctors’ opinions. He was finally identified with an annular tear and given two doable recovery timelines. Though they proceeded with hope for the earlier return, the longer one got here to fruition.

Now, the Dodgers are carrying three catchers, making an attempt not to overwork Smith in his first weeks back. He’ll be out of the lineup Wednesday and play two of three video games in Miami, supervisor Dave Roberts said.

With Rushing back on the IL for the same elbow injury, Feduccia can also serve as a left-handed bat off the bench, and Alfonzo offers the group more substitution flexibility.

Entering Tuesday, Smith had already thrown out three baserunners making an attempt to steal in his first week back in motion. But despite some exhausting contact, hits weren’t falling for him. He went two for 17 with a single and a double in the same time period.

“Will is just very consistent, dependable,” Roberts said. “I know he’s taking really good at-bats. Hitting some balls to the warning track.”

On Tuesday, batting third in the lineup against Reds left-handed beginning pitcher Nick Lodolo, he showcased the type of affect he could make on both sides of the ball.

In Smith’s first at-bat, he battled for 9 pitches, finally lifting a changeup over the left discipline wall.

“That was really good to see,” Roberts said. “With Will, it’s just great having him in there because you know you can count on the at-bat quality, and obviously having him behind the plate has been good.”

The next inning the Dodgers (88-57) doubled their rating when Tommy Edman — hitting in the leadoff spot in place of Shohei Ohtani (proper biceps and left knee), who was out of the lineup Tuesday as the Dodgers ease him back from a four-day absence over the weekend — was hit in the leg by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Reds then tied the rating in the third, as Elly De La Cruz launched a two-run homer off Skubal. But the Dodgers pulled forward again two innings later, courtesy of the red-hot bat Teoscar Hernández has been swinging in September.

Hernández avenged his ill-fated inside-the-park home run attempt — he was thrown out at the plate on an aggressive ship two innings earlier — with a well-struck RBI single.

Skubal wrapped up his deepest start of his Dodgers tenure to a standing ovation. He’d restricted the Reds to just 4 hits, while recording 5 strikeouts in an environment friendly efficiency.

Flame-throwing reliever Edgardo Henriquez changed Skubal, tasked with recording the last two outs of the eighth. He did so with the help of an ABS problem from Smith that secured an inning-ending strikeout.

Lefty Tanner Scott earned the save, retiring three straight batters after a leadoff stroll, and the Dodgers prolonged their profitable streak to six video games.

“It’s the last stretch,” Smith said at the start of the month. “We’re fighting for seeding as well. So yeah, it’s definitely time to step on the gas.”