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One of the best things to happen to the Los Angeles Dodgers as a result of the injuries that wreaked havoc on seemingly all corners of the roster this season is backstop Ben Rortvedt.<\/p>\n
The catcher was acquired at the trade deadline in a lowkey move that brought in himself and a pair of pitching prospects in exchange for Triple-A catcher Hunter Feduccia. With All-Star Will Smith and rookie Dalton Rushing as LA\u2019s backstops, not many around the team were talking about Rortvedt.<\/p>\n
After Smith and Rushing\u2019s respective injuries, Rortvedt has shown his strengths on offense hitting .294 in seven games for LA, and as a framer behind the plate. He recently showed Dodgers fans another major strength that he can bring to the table displaying immense leadership on Friday night after Tanner Scott allowed a walk-off grand slam in the 10th.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHonestly \u2013 man, this is tough,\u201d said Rortvedt. \u201cI feel a responsibility for some of these on Tanner, because I\u2019m the one catching and calling it. I mean, you can go back and look at it. No one\u2019s supposed to hit that pitch. Really, no one\u2019s supposed to hit that pitch. That\u2019s a good fastball. Really went down with the pitch before, had his eyes down.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis at-bat before, he punched on three heaters that weren\u2019t that high. So like I said, I feel responsible for some of these late in the innings, so I feel pretty bad. But we just got to keep showing up, keep competing. Tanner is a great pitcher. He\u2019s gonna get through this, and we all have his back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rortvedt was behind the dish for both of Scott\u2019s meltdowns that occurred this past week.<\/p>\n
Scott doesn\u2019t seem to buy-in to Rortvedt being responsible for his shortcomings, speaking candidly after the game about his past performances.<\/p>\n
\u201cGave up a bad pitch to a hitter that can hit fastballs. It cost us again,\u201d Scott said. \u201cI\u2019m tired of it happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s terrible. I\u2019m having the worst year of my life. I gotta be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking accountability on the biggest stages, especially after such a heartbreaking loss, is a mark of a superior teammate. Regardless of how long Rortvedt has to continue to fill in for Smith, LA can be confident that he is a more than dependable option until his teammates heal.<\/p>\n
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Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Ben Rortvedt takes responsibility after another walk-off at the hands of Tanner Scott.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":92669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n