In Dalton Rushing, The Dodgers Have MLB’s Newest Heel

Dalton Rushing of the Los Angeles Dodgers is quickly becoming MLB's latest and greatest "red ass. " (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Copyright 2026 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved. On Episode 2473 of the Effectively Wild podcast, host Ben Lindbergh determined that MLB has a new “red ass . ” Said differently, the league now has – according to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary – “a tough, angry, intense player; a player who plays hard; a raging competitor who hates to lose.

” SABR adds that it is someone who is high-strung, snaps easily, and breaks equipment. ” Lindbergh, and his co-host, Meg Rowley, pinned that moniker on Dodger catcher/first baseman/designated hitter Dalton Rushing. And they pointed to three incidents in the recent past that have given the rookie his bona fides.

Cheating in Colorado? After a mid-April loss to the Rockies, Rushing, who was catching to give Will Smith a day off, claimed : “I think it’s odd that some of those hitters that do what they do, they go up there and they’re on the first pitch that was thrown. It’s a little fishy, but I’ll wear it.