Dalton Rushing could be on verge of long-awaited Dodgers breakout

During spring training, Dave Roberts emphasized the Dodgers' desire for former No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing to get comfortable in his role as backup catcher to Will Smith. Roberts ruled out even the occasional move to the outfield, and Rushing has yet to appear at first base while Freddie Freeman gets an off day, though that has been thought to be in the cards.

Rushing was perhaps more optimistic than fans about the opportunities he might get in the long-term, saying, "I by no means anticipate being a role player like this for my whole career, and I don't think [the Dodgers] do either."

First things first, though: the Dodgers needed to see better offensive production out of him. He had an unspectacular debut season, hitting .204 with a .582 OPS in his first 53 games. Players' introductions to the major leagues can be rocky as it is, and it didn't help that Rushing had to adjust to inconsistent playing time in such an intimidating lineup.

But we caught a glimpse at the potential that made him baseball's No. 30 overall prospect last year on Monday night. In the Dodgers' 14-2 rout of the Blue Jays, Rushing went 4-for-4 with two home runs.

Dalton Rushing might finally be starting to break out after huge night for Dodgers vs. Blue Jays

Rushing's first bomb brought the Dodgers to double digits in the top of the seventh — a 415 foot shot off of reliever Tommy Nance's first pitch that left the bat at 107.4 MPH. The second represented the Dodgers' final run of the night and was hit even harder at 109 MPH, traveling 413 feet.

Monday was Rushing's third appearance of the season and his first complete game, with Smith taking over as a pinch-hitter and then catcher in his previous two games started. Rushing hit his first home run of the season against the Nationals on Sunday when the Dodgers came from behind to win after another bad start for Roki Sasaki.

The Dodgers wanted Smith to catch Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani through the rest of the series, which factored into the decision to start Rushing. Clearly, it wasn't a bad choice.

The underlying test for Rushing is clear: can he get used to the inconsistency and continue to produce? It might not change anything for his future with the Dodgers — Smith is still and will always be in his way — but he could end up stealing some more starts from him.