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The Dodgers made a flurry of roster moves on Monday, selecting the contract of left-hander Charlie Barnes, optioning right-hander Landon Knack to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and transferring catcher Will Smith to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot, per Dodger Blue staff.

Barnes rejoins the big league club for the third time this season. The journeyman lefty has bounced between Oklahoma City and Los Angeles throughout 2026, filling the role the Dodgers have needed him to fill — a flexible arm who can soak up innings when the pitching staff gets stretched thin. His last appearance with the club came on July 1. Barnes, 29, has carved out a career as a depth piece, the kind of pitcher every contending team needs stashed in Triple-A. He’s not going to wow anyone with velocity, but he competes, throws strikes, and gives the coaching staff options. For a team navigating some real pitching turbulence right now, that matters more than it usually would.

Knack’s option back to Oklahoma City is a move that speaks to the current roster crunch more than any indictment of his stuff. The right-hander has shown flashes at the major league level and remains a part of the Dodgers’ pitching future, but with Barnes’ contract being selected and the roster math demanding a corresponding move, Knack drew the short straw. He’ll continue to get regular work in Triple-A, and I’d expect we see him back up before long — especially given the state of our rotation. Knack’s development arc hasn’t been a straight line, but the raw ability is there. He’ll benefit from consistent starts in OKC.

The biggest news buried in these transactions is Smith’s transfer to the 60-day IL. We already knew the neck injury was serious enough to sideline him, and we’ve covered the potential trade deadline implications of his absence. But moving him to the 60-day IL makes the timeline concrete — Smith is not eligible to return until mid-September at the earliest. That’s a significant chunk of the season, and it removes any ambiguity about whether the Dodgers might get him back before the stretch run. For a player who has been one of the best offensive catchers in baseball over the past several seasons, losing Smith for that long is a real blow. His bat in the middle of the lineup is not something you just replace internally.

The 60-day IL transfer is the clearest signal yet that the front office views Smith’s injury as a longer-term absence than initially hoped. Combined with the Ohtani pitching situation, the Dodgers are dealing with two major losses to their core. The Barnes call-up is a band-aid — a necessary one — but the Smith move is what changes the calculus. Andrew Friedman and the front office now have an even stronger mandate to be aggressive at the trade deadline, particularly behind the plate. We need catching help, and the 60-day designation makes that undeniable. This is a team built to win now, and the roster moves reflect both the urgency and the reality of the situation.

Source(s): Staff (Dodger Blue) | First reported: July 21, 2026 10:11 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers