Dodgers Way
FanSided

Dodgers: Ten Crucial Questions the Dodgers Have to Answer in 2019

By Jake Matthews

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks off the field after pitching during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox in Game Five of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks off the field after pitching during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox in Game Five of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next
dodgers
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 27: Austin Barnes #15 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out swinging in the sixth inning of Game Four of the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Question 5: Will the real Austin Barnes please stand up?

The Dodgers opted to not re-sign free-agent catcher, Yasmani Grandal.  Yasmani’s tenure with the Dodgers could best be described as hit or miss; Literally.  He’d go on multi-week tears where it seemed like every at bat ended up with a walk or a home run, followed by a 6 for 90 stretch with 55 Ks (that may be a exaggeration, but probably not by much).  He never hit his weight in the post-season.  And he had a remarkably difficult time catching the ball which is kind of an important skill for a catcher.

After a stellar 2017 campaign where he posted a .289/.408/.486/.895 slash line with 8 HR’s and 38 RBI’s in only 218 AB’s and supplanted Grandal as the starting catcher in the post-season, Barnes had a huge drop off at the plate.  His 2018 slash line was .205/.329/.290/.619 with just 4 HR’s and 14 RBI’s in roughly the same number of AB’s.  His defense and pitch framing are both excellent, so if he can get back anywhere near his 2017 form at the plate then this falls under addition by subtraction.

While tied to the J.T. Realmuto rumor mill for much of the off-season, the front office was unable to work out a trade with the Marlins and instead opted to trade for former Dodger backstop, Russell Martin.  Although Martin is not the hitter he once was, his numbers should rebound enough to be better than the 2018 version of Austin Barnes, so back-up catcher should be an incremental improvement for the team.  Call it a potential win-win.

Home/LA Dodgers News