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Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith is having another great season, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic thinks he’s putting together a case to make it into the Hall of Fame.
“In his most recent list of active players who might be headed to the Hall of Fame, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark included the Dodgers’ Smith for the first time,” Rosenthal wrote. “That was last July. Smith since has won his third World Series. His quiet case for Cooperstown, befitting for his low-key personality, is only getting stronger.”
Smith is a cut above the rest of the catchers in the National League, comfortably slotting in as the National League’s starting catcher in both of the last two All-Star Games. He has made three Midsummer Classics during his career, all coming in the past three seasons. Additionally, Smith has three World Series titles to his name.
The catcher has 131 homers and 458 RBIs a month into his age-31 season, which is much better pace for Cooperstown than it appears.
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May 4, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) hits a single during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
What Would Smith Have to do to Reach the Hall of Fame?
To understand what Smith would have to do to reach the Hall of Fame, we have to look at the accomplishments of another National League catcher who is likely to enter Cooperstown on his first ballot this year: former San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.
Posey played 12 seasons with the Giants, and had a fantastic career in MLB.
He made seven All-Star games, won three World Series as well as the Rookie of the Year and one NL MVP award.
Smith is obviously lacking the Rookie of the Year and MVP, but has equalled Posey’s World Series total and could very well surpass it in the coming years. Additionally, Smith can realistically reach seven All-Stars with seven years still remaining on his contract after 2026.
How Do Buster Posey and Will Smith Stack Up Statistically?
Smith has played 752 games in his MLB career, which is one fewer than Posey played in his first seven seasons of MLB.
Posey had fantastic numbers through these seven seasons, during which he enjoyed his MVP-winning year as well as all three of his World Series campaigns. He recorded 850 hits, slashing .310/.375/.484 for an .859 OPS. 102 of those hits were home runs, and he also had 447 RBIs. He also had 29 bWAR through those seasons, which is significantly more than Smith’s 23.4.
Smith doesn’t have Posey beat in hits, having only 689 to his name so far, and also falls short in terms of his slash line, posting a .264/.358/.473 for an .831 OPS. He does, however, have more homers (131) and RBIs (458).
Posey also had several things Smith doesn’t, such as a Gold Glove and five Silver Sluggers.
Smith isn’t out of the running at all, though, as he has comparable numbers to Posey and still has his best days ahead of him after a fantastic campaign in 2025.
Do you think Will Smith will be better than Buster Posey when all is said and done? Will he be in the Hall of Fame?
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