Will Smith has produced a breakout offensive season, batting .308/.415/.511 with 19 doubles, 15 homers and 54 RBI in 393 plate appearances over 98 games. His .308 average currently leads the National League ahead of Xavier Edwards and Freddie Freeman. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts committed to ensuring Smith reaches the minimum 502 plate appearances required for batting title qualification despite the team's plan to provide him regular rest. With 36 games remaining, Smith must average roughly 3.1 plate appearances per game to qualify. Winning the NL batting title would make him the first Dodgers catcher and only the fourth backstop in MLB history to do so.
Will Smith has been one of the Los Angeles Dodgers' most consistent hitters this season and continues to build on a career year at the plate. The 30-year-old enters play Wednesday batting .308/.415/.511 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 54 RBI in 393 plate appearances across 98 games. Most notably, Smith's .308 batting average is ahead of the Miami Marlins' Xavier Edwards (.304) for best in the National League. Not far behind them is Freddie Freeman, who is batting.302 and ranks third.
Given the race for the NL batting title, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts guaranteed Smith will have enough plate appearances by the end of the season to qualify despite the team's strategy of providing him with rest, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times: "He's going to qualify. No matter what, I'll make sure of that," Roberts said. "I'm going to make sure he gets enough at-bats."
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