Dodgers notes: Turner, Smith, Kelly

Injured Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner continues his recovery from a strained left hamstring, but manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday he wouldn’t put a timetable on Turner’s return.

Turner sustained the injury stealing second base on Aug. 28. He’s eligible to return on Monday, a scheduled day off, but Roberts gave no indication that would happen. With the Dodgers' healthy lead atop the National League West standings, rushing Turner back would be unnecessary.

“Yesterday was a pretty good day,” said Roberts. “He took grounders on his knees, he threw to about 120 feet, took swings in the cage, did a little bit of moving around as far as running with the strength guys. When he’s ready, it’s a day-to-day thing. When we feel that Justin’s ready to be activated, he’ll be activated. I just don’t know when that’s going to be.”

With Turner out, Roberts has used left-handed hitters Max Muncy and Edwin Ríos at third base. When Muncy plays third, Cody Bellinger has moved to first base, while AJ Pollock and Chris Taylor have shared center field.

• Roberts said the improvements young catcher Will Smith has made in selecting pitches to swing at and hard-hit rate reflect the 25-year-old’s offensive approach.

“I think there’s just a calmness in the batter’s box, whether it’s a righty with velocity or a lefty who’s kind of nibbling,” said Roberts. “There’s a consistency with what he needs to do and wants to do and he sticks to it and [doesn't] just chase results as far as getting disappointed. He’s got a good heartbeat and consistent pulse. It’s a really quick maturity in less than a calendar year for Will.”

Although Smith’s average is down 25 points from last year, his on-base percentage is up 55 points. He’s completely flipped his ratio of strikeouts to walks: last year, he had 52 strikeouts and 18 walks; this year, he has 10 strikeouts and 16 walks. He’s cut in half the percentage of swings at pitches outside the strike zone.

“He was one of the unluckiest hitters in the league with quality of contact and at-bat quality, exit off the bat,” said Roberts. “I applaud him for not changing. Young players, when they don’t get the results, they tend to chase results, where Will, it speaks to his maturity that he hasn’t changed at all. He’s with Mookie [Betts] as far as the best, consistent approach, at-bat quality to now. That’s pretty good company.”

• Roberts said he’s looking for improved command on Monday from injured reliever Joe Kelly, who threw to hitters on Friday as he continues to rehab from shoulder inflammation. Kelly must serve a five-game suspension when he’s ready to be activated.

“Joe came out of it healthy, which is the most important thing,” said Roberts. “He’s building up arm strength. As far as command, it wasn’t where it needs to be and right now it doesn’t have to be. Monday, for me, is going to be a big test. I expect the command to be more tightened up and the intensity to be ramped up.”

• On Saturday, the Dodgers and the Starlight Children’s Foundation marked National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, as well as MLB’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Day, with a virtual visit to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital.

The Zoom party featured Dodgers players Walker Buehler, Ríos, Bellinger and Pollock.

"It was cool to play games with them and then get to ask them questions,” said 13-year-old Carlos, a patient at Mattel Children’s Hospital. “I got to ask them if they had any pets. They told me they had a cat and a dog and Edwin used to have a pony!"

For the fifth consecutive year, MLB and its clubs raised awareness for childhood cancer during all games on Saturday for a special league-wide day in home ballparks. MLB’s “Childhood Cancer Awareness Day,” held during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), combined a visual and ceremonial demonstration of support for the cause with outreach to local hospitals treating young patients in their communities. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States and Canada.

The Dodgers joined all on-field personnel, including players, coaches and umpires around baseball in wearing gold ribbon decals and wristbands during Saturday's game against the Rockies. Clubs also featured ceremonial activities in ballparks. Club activities included pregame ceremonies, cardboard cutouts of pediatric patients in stands at ballparks, virtual patient first pitches, virtual player hospital visits and more.

Childhood cancer awareness efforts in previous seasons have included special pediatric cancer awareness batting-practice T-shirts, online campaigns to empower fans to hold fundraisers for pediatric cancer research and donations to local children’s hospitals. MLB and its clubs have supported the fight against cancer through a variety of initiatives for many years. As Stand Up To Cancer’s founding donor, Major League Baseball has pledged more than $50 million to SU2C’s collaborative cancer research programs, providing invaluable support. Launched in 2013, the work of the Stand Up To Cancer/St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team has helped to develop new immunotherapy approaches and contributed to the development of two new treatments for difficult-to-treat pediatric leukemias that have been approved by the FDA. MLB has recognized SU2C at its jewel events since the '09 World Series.