The Los Angeles Dodgers entered Thursday night’s series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals hoping to salvage a win at home and avoid a sweep. Tarik Skubal was lined up to start, giving the club a chance to finish the set on a stronger note.
Yet the game itself was not the only story unfolding around the team. Earlier in the week the Dodgers had already begun reshaping their roster, and by Thursday, those changes had reached a five-year major-league catcher.
Will Smith and Dalton Rushing both came off the injured list before the Cardinals series began. Smith’s return from a neck issue that had landed him on the 60-day IL created an immediate numbers problem.
As a result, Ben Rortvedt, acquired at the trade deadline a month earlier to provide catching depth, was the player squeezed out. He was designated for assignment on Tuesday. On Thursday, the club outrighted him to Triple-A Oklahoma City (via the MLB.com transaction log), removing him from both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.
Rortvedt’s brief second tour with Los Angeles never produced the offensive spark the team needed. In 16 games he posted a .370 OPS, numbers that made him an obvious candidate once the regulars were healthy.
The Dodgers had brought him in because they were thin behind the plate; he filled that role as a stopgap rather than a long-term solution. The 28-year-old broke into the big leagues back in 2021 and has also played for the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and, briefly, the New York Yankees.
Across 586 career at-bats he owns a .189 average, nine home runs, 53 RBI and an OPS+ of 55. Those figures explain why the organization viewed him as expendable once Smith and Rushing were available again.
The move is a reminder of how quickly roster math can change in September. A player who arrived as emergency help can become surplus once the primary catchers return.
Rortvedt had appeared in Dodger blue in 2025 as well, so the organization already knew his defensive value and his limitations with the bat.
Outrighting him to the minors keeps him in the system while freeing the roster spots the club needed. Whether he returns later this season or becomes a free agent after the year depends on how the rest of the roster shakes out and whether other teams see him as useful depth.
For now, the Dodgers turn their attention back to the field, with Skubal on the mound and a healthier catching corps behind him.
The decision on Rortvedt was straightforward baseball business: two players came back, one had to go. It closed a short chapter that began at the deadline and ended, a month later, with an assignment to the minors.
