MLB Mid-Season Assessment

MLB Mid-season Assessment 2026

By David A. Avila

That team from Chavez Ravine continues to lead all Major League Baseball with a total of 61 wins.

Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers winners of back-to-back World Series are in front again but this year is different.

Are they a sure-thing for 2026?

One thing severely lacking has been a suitable replacement for baseball’s best catcher  Will Smith who is out with injury. Earlier this year they released Matt Barnes whose hitting was not great but whose advanced skills behind the plate were ignored.

Today, the Dodgers are paying the price as rookie backup catcher Dalton Rushing has proven to be a good hitter but sorely lacks skills behind the plate and in guiding pitchers. It’s not an easy skill to acquire. Barnes had mastered those skills but Rushing just cant get the hang of linking up with pitchers.

Need proof?

The Dodgers got swept by Arizona to close out the first half before the All Star Game.

Look at the ERA’s of pitchers like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with Smith catching and those with Rushing as the backstop. No comparison, the numbers don’t lie. Under Smith the Dodgers wield a 3.02 ERA. With Rushing its 3.69 ERA.

Pitchers basically know what they are going to throw and have a rhythm of pitching. When that rhythm is broken, it can lead to disaster. Right now, disaster has become a norm under Rushing as the receiver.

There is more to catching than framing. A catcher is perhaps the most important position of all, aside from the pitcher. A good catcher is the leader, brains and protector for good teams.

For decades the Dodgers always had a great catcher starting with Roy Campanella in Brooklyn, then John Roseboro in the 60s, Steve Yeager in the 70s and Mike Scioscia in the 1980s. That quartet of catchers was important in leading the Dodgers to World Series victories.

After Scioscia the Dodgers tinkered with different catchers and had mixed results with some receivers having tremendous defensive skills and others blessed with outstanding offensive skills. But until Smith came along the Dodger catchers were inadequate.

Smith proved to be among the best all around catchers in the Major Leagues.

Catchers like St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina, the San Francisco Giants Buster Posey and the New York Yankees Jorge Posada proved the value of a good catcher and all those teams won World Series under their guidance.

For all of Barnes inadequacies as a hitter, he could really call a game and get the confidence of his pitchers. He proved it over and over as a battery mate for Clayton Kershaw. They were hooked in like a Spock mind meld.

Today, Rushing is like a Klingon warrior insisting death by sword rather than use intelligence.

Can Rushing be taught?

“He’s a talented work in progress,” said Dodger skipper Dave Roberts. “He understands his priority is to serve the pitchers and be behind the plate. But yeah, the last few games he’s had a tough go of it.”

Ranking NL Teams Pitching

Despite having nine pitchers on the injury list the Dodgers lead the National League in several of the most important categories including WHIP with a team average of 1.14. WHIP is walks and hits allowed per inning. Basically, it means how many people get on base against a team’s pitching staff.

Here are the top five:

Dodgers 1.14

Brewers 1.17

Braves 1.23

Marlins 1.24

D-Backs 1.27

WHIP is in my assessment the best way of measuring a pitching staff.

Another measurement is run-differential

Dodgers  allowed 352 runs, scored 503 = 151

Brewers  allowed 363 runs, scored 489 = 126

Braves allowed 366 runs, scored 459 = 93

Marlins allowed 414 runs, scored 438 = 24

Padres allowed 419 runs, scored 374 = -45

The Dodgers have scored 151 more runs than they allowed so far in this baseball season. The other top teams are the Brewers with a 126 run differential, Braves with 93, and Marlins with 24. The Padres have a good pitching staff but have not been able to score. Offense has been the Padres demise this season.

Ranking AL Pitching

Tampa Bay   1.17 WHIP

Seattle      1.18 WHIP

NYY          1.19 WHIP

Detroit       1.21 WHIP

Boston       1.22 WHIP

AL Run Differential

Tampa 393 allowed, runs scored 425 = 32

Seattle 376 allowed, runs scored 392 = 16

NYY 371 allowed, runs scored 462 = 91

Detroit  383 allowed, runs scored 407 = 24

Boston  358 allowed, runs scored 385 = 27