Dalton Rushing - 5/2/23

The latest in a series of outstanding Louisville catchers, Rushing is proving that the Dodgers know what they're doing when it comes to drafting and developing backstops

Louisville has always been a baseball school for prospect hounds to follow, but in the past few years, their catchers have been unusually talented. It started with the Dodgers selecting Will Smith in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2016 draft, and he is now looking like a multiple time All-Star at the position. Then there was a gap, with only Colby Fitch taken in the 13th round, before Henry Davis was drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2021 draft.

Waiting in the wings behind Davis was Dalton Rushing, who prior to his junior season only had 107 plate appearances, splitting time between catcher, first, and designated hitter. In his first full year behind the plate at Louisville, Rushing went out and hit .310 / .470 / .686 with 23 homers and a 50/58 BB/K ratio in 298 plate appearances. The Dodgers selected him 40th overall, and he put on a show in his pro debut, and has continued to impress this year. The Dodgers look to have gotten a steal here, and in this spotlight piece I want highlight what he does well and also consider some evaluation mistakes teams may have made that lead to Rushing slipping.

Coming into the spring of Rushing’s junior year, teams had seen the plus raw power he showed on the Cape, as well as his plus arm strength. The main concern with Rushing was with his subpar catching skills, specifically receiving and framing, with a minor concern being some swing and miss issues (This is a concern with a lot of power hitters). While Rushing could handle first base as his primary position due to his power potential, it would reduce his overall value quite a bit. Throughout that spring, he didn’t show much in the way of hit tool risk. He struck out 19% of the time against a 17% walk rate, while still showing plus power (23 homers) and the ability to lift the ball (1.3 FB/GB ratio). His chase rate was a solid 20% as well, with no major fluctuations across pitch types. The one glaring hole was a vulnerability to changeups, where he had a 37% whiff rate in the 209 times he saw one, but he didn’t have the same issues with sliders (25%) or curves (21%).