The Dodgers sent catcher Chuckie Robinson outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. Los Angeles designated him for assignment yesterday. Robinson evidently accepted the minor league assignment, as he was back in the OKC lineup tonight.
Robinson spent a couple weeks on L.A.’s big league roster. The Dodgers selected his contract when Will Smith went on the injured list. Robinson backed up Dalton Rushing for a little while. The Dodgers swapped him out for rookie Eliezer Alfonzo Jr. over the weekend. Although they didn’t technically announce Robinson’s DFA until yesterday, they apparently began the 48-hour waiver process over the weekend to remove him from the 40-man roster.
The 31-year-old Robinson is an organizational depth catcher who has gotten to the big leagues with the Reds, White Sox and Dodgers. He had two hits in eight games for L.A. this year and is a career .124/.157/.176 hitter with two home runs over 164 plate appearances. The Southern Mississippi product owns a .268/.329/.407 batting line over five years in Triple-A.
Robinson isn’t going to offer much at the plate, but the Dodgers clearly like his work with a pitching staff. This is his second season in the organization. Smith still seems at least a few weeks away as he works back from neck soreness, leaving Rushing and Alfonzo as the only healthy catchers on the 40-man roster. Robinson would probably be the first catcher back up if either of those two suffer an injury before Smith returns.
