{"id":120837,"date":"2025-11-14T13:23:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=120837"},"modified":"2025-11-14T13:23:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:23:41","slug":"reaction-shocker-after-catching-all-73-innings-and-blasting-the-game-7-walk-off-homer-former-dodger-kevin-kiermaier-stuns-the-baseball-world-by-saying-30-year-old-will-smith-has-hall-of-fame-potenti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=120837","title":{"rendered":"REACTION SHOCKER: After catching all 73 innings and blasting the Game 7 walk-off homer, former Dodger Kevin Kiermaier stuns the baseball world by saying 30-year-old Will Smith has Hall of Fame potential, igniting league-wide debates as his three All-Star nods, three championships, and long-term deal through 2033 suddenly look like the foundation of the next Dodgers legend..ll"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BlueLos Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (93) after clinching the National League West by defeating the San Diego Padres 7-2 at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 26, 2024.\u00a0Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The 2025 Dodgers came to be mentioned in the same breath as the phrase “future Hall of Famers” fairly early this season. Any batting order featuring Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman at the top makes a compelling argument for all three to be enshrined in Cooperstown some day.<\/p>\n

Throw in a pitching staff that (after his May debut) included Clayton Kershaw, and any talk of the Dodgers’ future Hall of Famers typically centered around those four players.<\/p>\n

Kershaw\u00a0officially retired\u00a0with three World Series rings and 79 career Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs \u2014\u00a0the most of any player in Dodgers franchise history. Ohtani (50 fWAR, two rings), Betts (63 fWAR, three rings) and Freeman (65 fWAR, three rings) have accomplished enough to merit enshrinement if they retired today.<\/p>\n

Dodgers catcher Will Smith is a three-time All-Star and a three-time champion in seven seasons, all with Los Angeles. At 30 years old, Smith has\u00a022 career WAR according to FanGraphs\u00a0(which accounts for a catcher’s framing skill) and 23\u00a0according to Baseball Reference\u00a0(which does not).<\/p>\n

If Smith retired today, he would not make the Hall of Fame \u2014 either on merit, or on account of the fact that he’s three seasons shy of Cooperstown’s 10-year minimum. Smith is under contract to the Dodgers through 2033. Barring an injury, he’ll play 10 years.<\/p>\n

At least one former Dodger, Kevin Kiermaier, believes Smith will give the 2025 Dodgers a fifth Hall of Famer some day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy, I think, is going to be a Hall of Famer,” Kiermaier said of Smith on\u00a0the Deep Left Field podcast. “This guy is the most \u2026 he is one of the most poised I\u2019ve ever been around, never seems like his heart is beating, a guy you always trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers acquired Kiermaier at the July 2024 trade deadline in a 1-for-1 swap with the Blue Jays for pitcher Ryan Yarbrough. Kiermaier played the final 38 games of his 12-year MLB career (including four in the National League Championship Series) with the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

Upon retiring, Kiermaier accepted a special assistant role with the Blue Jays. He was watching from the other side as the Dodgers came from behind to defeat Toronto in the World Series \u2014\u00a0thanks in no small part to Smith.<\/p>\n

Smith\u00a0caught all 73 innings\u00a0in the series, and hit the game-winning home run in the 11th inning of Game 7. That home run was the fifth-most impactful World Series play of all-time\u00a0by cWPA.<\/p>\n

With a few more seasons under his belt, Smith might count it as the highlight of a Hall of Fame career.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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