It takes a special kind of toughness to be a Major League catcher. Aside from willingly jumping in front of triple-digit pitches with limited protective equipment, catchers know they can get hit with a bat on a backswing. It’s a risk of the position.
But one player, in particular, had Dodgers catcher Will Smith upset on Monday. During a fourth inning at-bat, Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna struck Smith on the side of the head with his backswing. As Ozuna was making his way down the first-base line to jog out the fly out, he stopped when Smith had words for him. Bullpens cleared, but the incident didn’t escalate.
