Dodgers activate Will Smith from injured list, option Keibert Ruiz

The Dodgers activated catcher Will Smith from the injured list on Sunday, after missing the minimum 10 days required with neck inflammation. Smith is expected to catch Sunday’s series finale in the Rockies.

He hurt his neck in a home plate collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. in San Diego on August 3, then felt discomfort while fielding a ball in front of the plate on August 12.

“It kind of locked up on me. I didn’t have much range of motion in my neck in how I could turn my head, to hit, to throw,” Smith told Alanna Rizzo on the SportsNet LA broadcast Saturday night. “It was just really uncomfortable. I had a little bit of pain in there. It wasn’t any fun to play through.”

Smith got at-bats and caught the last few days at the Dodgers’ alternate training site at USC, the closest thing to a minor league rehab assignment available in 2020.

To make room on the roster, catcher Keibert Ruiz was optioned. Ruiz played twice in the last week, and homered in his major league debut last Sunday in Anaheim, the seventh Dodger to do so.

Justin Turner update

After getting hit by a pitch on his left hamstring last night, Justin Turner isn’t in the lineup today. According to Dave Roberts, it’s nothing serious, he just wanted to give him an extra day off with the day off tomorrow.

“[There was] swelling and some bruising,” Roberts said. “Little bit of improvement. He could play but we’re choosing to give him today off so we can give him two days. I expect him back in there on Tuesday.”