Looking to the past to see the future for Austin Barnes
Phil Gurnee ♦ January 11, 2018 ♦ 3 Comments
Cleaning up a few drafts today.
Austin Barnes was the best gardener the Dodgers had in 2017. Barnes raked all year long. He raked in April, he raked in Sept, he even raked in Oct for one series.
He did not rake in the NLCS and the World Series. Was it surprising that a catcher who had not started six games in a row since July 1st all of the sudden slumped when asked to start thirteen of fifteen postseason games? You tell me.
Austin Barnes never had a monthly OPS below .800 playing primarily as a catcher. That is isn’t just raking, that is being THE BEST HITTING CATCHER IN BASEBALL IN 2017.
You don’t believe me?
Player OPS+ WAR/pos PA Year Age BA OBP SLG OPS Austin Barnes 137 2.6 262 2017 27 .289 .408 .486 .895 Kurt Suzuki 130 2.8 309 2017 33 .283 .351 .536 .887 Buster Posey 129 4.0 568 2017 30 .320 .400 .462 .861 Gary Sanchez 126 4.1 525 2017 24 .278 .345 .531 .876 Mike Zunino 123 3.3 435 2017 26 .251 .331 .509 .840 Robinson Chirinos 122 2.7 309 2017 33 .255 .360 .506 .866 Alex Avila 119 2.7 376 2017 30 .264 .387 .447 .834 Willson Contreras 119 3.9 428 2017 25 .276 .356 .499 .855 Tyler Flowers 117 2.2 370 2017 31 .281 .378 .445 .823 Welington Castillo 115 2.1 365 2017 30 .282 .323 .490 .813 Chris Iannetta 114 1.8 316 2017 34 .254 .354 .511 .865 Evan Gattis 111 1.2 325 2017 30 .263 .311 .457 .767 Brian McCann 110 1.2 399 2017 33 .241 .323 .436 .759 J.T. Realmuto 109 3.6 579 2017 26 .278 .332 .451 .783 Salvador Perez 105 2.5 499 2017 27 .268 .297 .495 .792 Yasmani Grandal 100 2.2 482 2017 28 .247 .308 .459 .767
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/11/2018.
The last time the Dodgers had a catcher lead baseball in OPS+ was HOF Mike Piazza even with cherry picking the minimum 250 Plate appearances. Todd Hundley gave it a good run in 2000 but was beaten by ….. Mike Piazza. Paul Loduca gave it a good run in 2001 but was beaten by ….. Mike Piazza.
Sure, he only had 262 plate appearances. I get the skepticism about how he will hold up if he starts over 100 games at catcher. Still, at no point can you ask “When did Austin Barnes rake” without Dodger fans wondering what season you watched in 2017.
Will he be the best hitting catcher in 2018 if he starts 100 games? I’d certainly bet against it, but I wouldn’t bet against Austin Barnes being one of the top ten catchers in 2018.
If you throw out Mike Piazza because I think it is fair to throw out a HOF career when trying to put the season that Austin Barnes had in LAD history contest this is what you have.
Austin Barnes had the 3rd best offensive season by LAD catcher not named Mike Piazza. That is almost 60 years of seasons.
Rk Player OPS+ PA Year Age BA OBP SLG OPS 5 Todd Hundley 143 353 2000 31 .284 .375 .579 .954 6 Paul Lo Duca 142 519 2001 29 .320 .374 .543 .917 8 Austin Barnes 137 262 2017 27 .289 .408 .486 .895 9 Mike Scioscia 136 526 1985 26 .296 .407 .420 .826 10 Joe Ferguson 136 585 1973 26 .263 .369 .470 .839 11 Joe Ferguson 132 430 1974 27 .252 .380 .436 .815 12 Joe Ferguson 131 442 1979 32 .262 .380 .466 .845 13 Tom Haller 128 534 1968 31 .285 .345 .388 .733 14 Joe Ferguson 126 214 1980 33 .238 .371 .436 .807 15 Tom Haller 122 365 1970 33 .286 .351 .465 .815 16 Duke Sims 121 263 1971 30 .274 .357 .400 .757 17 Bill Sudakis 121 311 1970 24 .264 .352 .461 .813 18 Steve Yeager 119 354 1974 25 .266 .334 .437 .771 19 Yasmani Grandal 118 457 2016 27 .228 .339 .477 .816 20 A.J. Ellis 118 505 2012 31 .270 .373 .414 .786 21 Russell Martin 116 620 2007 24 .293 .374 .469 .843 22 Chad Kreuter 116 271 2000 35 .264 .416 .410 .827 23 John Roseboro 116 380 1967 34 .272 .348 .374 .723 24 A.J. Ellis 113 217 2015 34 .238 .355 .403 .758 25 John Roseboro 113 501 1966 33 .276 .343 .398 .740
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/11/2018.
I don’t know if Austin Barnes is going to be the primary catcher in 2018. Many think so because he started every game in the World Series over Yazmani Grandal who was the primary catcher in 2017. I don’t know if that means the Dodgers feel Barnes is better than Grandal or that he was simply the right choice in late October. Given that Barnes didn’t set the world on fire with his bat in the World Series I have to think that either Grandal was not 100% or that the defensive work of Barnes made him the primary choice. Barnes had certainly wrestled a 50/50 timeshare with Grandal by Sept and if both are on the roster come April 1st in 2018 you would expect something similar.
I would be shocked if they are both on the roster on April 1st and Grandal is not catching just as much as Barnes. By May, performance might dictate who gets more starts, but more likely it will be health that determines it.
- Posted in: 2017 Dodgers ♦ Uncategorized
- Tagged: Austin Barnes
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 
I will be shocked if both Barnes and Grandal are on the roster April 1 too.
Grandal is getting paid for his bat, a LH power bat.
Framing is great, but a .900 OPS is better.
Grandal would have a better shot at better production at the plate playing on a AL team that could deploy him as a Catcher, 1B, and DH. This way he could avoid the dings that he gets behind the plate that wind up quieting his bat. Kinda like Mike Napoli.
I haven’t ranked the MLB catchers by pay. It would be interesting to see where Grandal would appear on such a list. Aside from framing, Grandal is not a defensive wizard behind the plate.
For instance, Grandal would not start at catcher for Mike Scioscia, a manager who places a high value on premium defense at the catcher position (I can not remember another catcher who has as many conferences with his pitcher debating pitch calling/selection during a game as Grandal does with his pitchers).
Grandal could be moved as part of a multi-team trade.
Don’t know what the Dodgers could get in return for Grandal in a straight up trade,
his pay and spotty performance due to nagging injury over the years kinda put him in
never-never land.
The cost averaging notion, that combining Barnes and Grandal’s salary and viewing this as
$8 mil + to cover the catcher position in 2018 just feels like a fake rationalization.
This makes me feel that the Dodgers will try to move Grandal.
We shall see.
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Also have to take into account Grandal’s free agent status. If he spends his walk year on the bench or at best a platoon partner that could cost him millions. The Dodgers bent over backyard to move Juan Uribe when he asked to be traded so he could play, even though it was not the best move for the team.
It does make sense to carry Grandal through spring just because catchers get hurt and if any contender loses a catcher early, they might pay for Grandal.
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Excellent point ‘re waiting for a market to develop.
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