​The Los Angeles Dodgers are getting healthy again, just in time for the postseason.The same trajectory that defined their 2025 season — suffer a string of injuries at midseason, rebuild the catcher position on the fly, win the World Series — is beginning to take shape again in 2026. The latest good news concerns All-Star catcher Will Smith.Smith will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment with the Dodgers’ Triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate on Tuesday, Aug. 25, batting second and catching for the Comets’ game against the El Paso Chihuahuas.MORE: Former Dodgers utility player, World Series champion, retires at 33Smith last played for the Dodgers on June 5, before he was placed on the 15-day injured list with neck inflammation. Later diagnosed as an inflamed disk, the injury knocked Smith out much longer than the team first expected.The Dodgers have cycled through MLB veterans Chuckie Robinson, Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia, as well as rookie Eliezer Alfonzo, in Smith’s absence. Backup Dalton Rushing assumed most of the catching duties until he too succumbed to an elbow injury.Feduccia and Rortvedt — whom the Dodgers coincidentally traded for each other last year — were last-minute acquisitions at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. They have been handling the catching duties ever since.MORE: Dodgers CEO makes clear statement about Mark Walter’s plansSmith is coming off a career year in which he slashed .296/.404/.497. He sustained a hand fracture in September 2025 that limited his counting stats. But Smith returned in time to catch every inning of the Dodgers’ seven-game World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.More than his bat, the Dodgers have missed Smith’s glove. Los Angeles pitchers have a 3.02 ERA when throwing to Smith, and a 3.67 when throwing to all the Dodgers’ catchers combined. Among the others, Feduccia (3.17 catchers’ ERA, 95 OPS+ since the trade) looks like the safest bet to back up Smith when he returns.Rushing hasn’t been cleared to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment yet, and might have played his final game this season because of a torn UCL. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Smith’s return now appears to be a matter of “when” and not “if.”—Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter—