Dodgers’ Will Smith has cocky comments despite being swept by Padres

Jul 21, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) in action during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Fresh Prince of Los Angeles is not at all worried about his team’s rough sledding right now.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were swept in their brief two-game set against the NL West rival San Diego Padres this week. They have now lost four of their last five games heading into the last two months of the season and only have a 4.5-game lead in their division at this point (which is the slimmest division lead in the National League).

After Wednesday’s loss to the Padres (an 8-1 drubbing), Dodgers catcher Will Smith still sounded very confident.

“We’ll come out of it,” Smith said of the skid, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. “No doubt about it. We’re the Dodgers. We’re the best team in baseball.”

Unfortunately for Smith though, the Dodgers are not currently the best team in baseball and now hold the fifth-best record in Major League Baseball this year at 63-46. While some of that can be attributed to the vast pool of talent the Dodgers currently have on IL (like Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, Max Muncy, and others), they still have more than enough to get the job done. The Dodgers, who spent over a billion dollars this past offseason, still have five healthy 2024 All-Stars on their team (including Smith himself) and yet are still underperforming.

Smith may simply be trying to keep the right mindset here and not let the Dodgers’ rocky last week or so shake their confidence. But Smith already had some public comments come back to bite him earlier this season and could be setting himself up for future humiliation again here.