Dodgers lose key 2025 cog to Reds in waiver move we couldn't see coming

Ben Rortvedt didn't get off on the best foot with Dodgers fans when he made his team debut on Sept. 4 as a pinch-hitter replacing former No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing in the bottom of the ninth against the Pirates. The Dodgers were down by five and getting shut out by the Pirates, of all teams, but they staged a three-run rally before the game ended on a Rortvedt strikeout.

At the time, the prevailing sentiment among Dodgers fans was "who even is this guy?" Rortvedt had been called up to take over some catching duties as Will Smith was down with a bone bruise (but not on the IL), and he'd hit .095 with a .297 OPS with the Rays before he came over at the trade deadline.

But with Smith down for the count and Rushing following just a few days later, Rortvedt found himself in the role of primary catcher within days of his team debut. He caught Yoshinobu Yamamoto's near-no-hitter against the Orioles, and then Tyler Glasnow's seven no-hit innings against the Rockies.

There was reason to believe that Rortvedt could move into the Dodgers' backup catcher role full-time, because surely the Dodgers wouldn't be able to keep their No. 1 prospect on backup duty forever, right?

Maybe they can. On Wednesday, the Reds claimed Rortvedt off of waivers that Dodgers fans had no idea the team had even placed him on.

Reds claim Ben Rortvedt off of waivers after silent Dodgers DFA

Rortvedt came to the Dodgers as part of the weird three-team trade with the Rays and Reds that sent Hunter Feduccia to Tampa Bay, so Rortvedt has officially run the gauntlet of all three teams involved.

Not only was he an excellent defensive player during his short stint with the Dodgers, he actually hit better than anyone expected him to. He made the postseason roster and even started the Dodgers' first four games — two against the Reds themselves, two against the Phillies — before being subbed out for Smith. He didn't appear at all after the NLDS, but he picked up his first ever postseason RBI in Game 1 of the Wild Card.

So it seems the Dodgers definitely won't be trading Rushing this offseason, and they're going to have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a way to actually get him some playing time. Rortvedt is likely to see far more playing time in Cincinnati than he would've in LA even if the Dodgers had kept him, but Dodgers fans certainly won't forget his pretty miraculous two months with the team.