Another Dodgers player cementing himself as MLB superstar

Will Smith isn't the first name that'll come up when discussing the Dodgers spate of superstars up and down their lineup. Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman will come to mind first. This season, however, Smith has firmly planted himself in the conversation with that trio atop the Los Angeles order.

Smith on Friday smacked three home runs in an 8-5 Dodgers win. It wasn't the first time he's made a huge impact on a victory, but it certainly stood out on a night where he hit second behind Ohtani who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

Quietly, Smith is now tied for 13th in all of baseball in FanGraphs' WAR metric (we're going to use WAR as a catch-all production stat). He's ahead of Freeman and quickly gaining on Betts who is out with a broken hand. Only Ohtani has a better WAR among Dodgers than their catcher, and that duo ranks Nos. 1 and 7 among all National Leaguers, respectively.

Smith is comfortably leading all players at his position in WAR and weighted runs created plus (wRC+). For those non-analytically inclined, Smith is tied for third among all MLB catchers in home runs and RBIs, he's fourth in batting average, second in on-base percentage and first in slugging percentage. He also strikes out at the second-lowest rate of all catchers.

The definition of a 'superstar' might vary from person to person, but it's hard not to put Smith in some sort of superstar-ish stratosphere. He has been one of the very best players at his position in baseball, contributing in a big way offensively while being a fine defender. Perhaps he doesn't come with the flash or big-name value that other Dodgers stars do. He's consistently been very good for the last several seasons though and this season is making himself comfortable at the table of LA's other superstars.