Austin Barnes: Underrated Leader

Austin Barnes came to the Dodgers in a trade with the Marlins in December of 2014, one of new President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Freidman's two big December deals. He was acquired along with Chris Hatcher, Kike Hernandez and Andrew Heaney for Dan Haren, Dee Gordon and Miguel Rojas and cash.

A couple of days later, Freidman sent Matt Kemp and Tim Federowitz to the Padres for Yasmani Grandal and a couple of minor league pitchers. Grandal was to replace AJ Ellis as the starting catcher, and Ellis would become the #2. Barnes was obviously a depth piece.

Barnes was born in Riverside California on December 28th, 1989. His mother, Stephanie is Mexican American, but he was raised speaking only English. He is the nephew of former MLB player, Mike Gallego who played for the A's.

Barnes went to Riverside Poly High School and was a teammate of Jake Marisnek. He lettered four times at Poly and was the team captain his senior year. He hit .450 as a junior and .478 as a senior. He also played on travel teams and helped one reach the American Amateur Baseball Congress Don Mattingly championship in 2010.

He then enrolled at ASU. He did not play much his freshman year appearing in 20 games as a second baseman, catcher and DH. He hit .412 in 17 at bats. In his sophomore year, things changed drastically for him. Both of ASU's scholarship catchers went down with injuries, and Barnes took over. He caught 19 of the first 24 runners attempting to steal. He hit .272 for the year and had a .983 fielding percentage in his first season as a full-time catcher.

Given the opportunity to return to the infield, he decided to remain behind the plate his junior year. He had a .994 fielding pct, hit .320 with 27 runs scored and 15 driven in. He was named all-Pac-10 first team after the season. Barnes was picked in the 9th round of the 2011 draft by the Marlins and began his pro career at low-A Jamestown of the New York-Penn League.

He hit .283 in 57 games and established himself as a strong defender behind the plate with some batting skills. In 2012, he was sent to Greensboro high-A of the Sally League. In 123 games, he hit .318 with 12 homers and 65 RBIs. He stole 9 bases and was caught twice.

In 2013, he split time between high-A Jupiter in the Florida League, batting .260, and AA Jacksonville in the Southern League where he hit .330 in 19 games. He did the same thing in 2014, playing 44 games at Jupiter batting .317 and 78 games at Jacksonville hitting .296 with 12 homers and 43 driven in. Overall, he hit .304/13/57 with 11 bags being caught just 3 times. He split his playing time between 2nd and catcher.

After being acquired by the Dodgers, Barnes started 2015 at OKC of the AAA PCL. He was called up to LA on the 23rd of May to replace Grandal who had gone on the 7-day-IL for a concussion. He made his first MLB start on the 24th and went 1-3 against the Padres. His first MLB hit came off of Dale Thayer. He would play in 20 games for the Dodgers batting .207. He played in 81 games for OKC and hit .315/9/42.

He was named to the All-Star team. After the season he was named to the PCL All-Star team and Baseball America's AAA All-Star team. In 2016, he played in 20 games for the Dodgers and hit just .156. In 85 games for OKC he hit .295/6/39 and stole 18 bases and was caught just 3 time.

Austin made the team out of spring training as Grandal's backup. On June 30th, he had his first multi-homer game in the majors. He hit a grand slam and a 3-run shot driving in a career high 7 runs for the game. For the year he hit .289/8/38 in 102 games He was in a platoon role with Grandal for most of the year before playing in most of the playoff games. He did not hit well in the playoffs, going 8-51.

He was again the backup at the start of 2018. He started the season battling elbow discomfort. He played in 100 games but hit just .205/4/14. He took over starting duties at catcher in the playoff after Grandal had 2 errors and 2 passed balls in game one of the LCS with Arizona. Overall, he was 2-29 in the LCS and World Series with 2 RBIs.

In 2019, Barnes was named the opening day starter. Grandal had signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent. He started slowly and was sent down to OKC on July 26th, and Will Smith was called up to become the starter with veteran Russell Martin sharing the duties with him. Barnes played 73 games hitting .205/5/35. He hit .265 in 23 games at OKC. After the season, Barnes signed a 1.1-million-dollar deal avoiding arbitration.

2020 as we all know was the pandemic season. Barnes would play in 29 of the Dodgers 60 games. He batted .244/1/9. He would get two hits in each of the four series the Dodgers played. 2-3 against the Brewers in the wild card game, 2-2 against the Padres in the LDS, that series featured Smith getting five hits in game 3 against SD. Barnes was 2-7 against the Braves. He went 2-13 against the Rays in the World Series. In game 3 of the World Series, he drove in a run with a sac-bunt and also homered, becoming only the second player to do both of those things in a series game joining Hector Lopez of the Yankees who did it in 1961. But perhaps his most important hit came in the 6th inning of game six when he singled off of Blake Snell, and the Rays manager pulled Snell from the game. He had been dominating the Dodger bats up to that point. Betts then doubled Barnes home and scored on an infield grounder by Seager. He later hit a homer giving LA the final 3-1 score. Barnes was the catcher when Urais struck out Adames for the final out of the series.

Just before the 21 season, Barnes signed a 2-year 4.3-million-dollar deal, again avoiding arbitration. He once again was Smith's backup. He hit .215/6/23. He had just 3 at bats in the post season and struck out twice. If there was a weakness to Barnes game on defense, it was the fact that he gunned down just 17% of the runners who tried to steal. His framing and game calling were his biggest pluses. He also did not allow many passed balls.

In 2022 the Dodgers were a juggernaut, winning 111 games, the most in the team's history. Barnsie as his teammates called him, played in 62 games. He hit .212/8/26, matching his career high in homers. He went 2-3 in his only action in the loss to the Padres. On July 3rd, he signed a 2-year-7-million-dollar contract extension.

Barnes would play in just 59 games in 23. He hit .180/2/11. But one of his homers on August 17th, was the only run in a 1-0 win over the Brewers hit off of Joel Paymps in the 8th inning. He got just 1 at bat in the 3-game sweep by the D-Backs.

Barnes rebounded to hit .264 with a homer and 11 driven in in 24. He played in 54 games. He appeared in just 1 game in the post season run. No plate appearances as Smith caught every game. 2025 would be his last season in LA. He was cut loose after just 13 games. He had 9 hits, 3 of them doubles.

He was released on May 20th and signed a minor league deal with the Giants on June 29th. He split time between the Arizona Complex League and AAA Sacramento and was released by the Giants on August 1st.

He signed a minor league deal with the Mets on January 29th of this year and was released in March after failing to make the opening day roster. He currently is still a free agent. Barnes has been married since 2018, he and his wife Nicole have one son and they live in Glendale.

Barnes career line with the Dodgers, .223/35/162. Many think he has a future as a coach or manager in the majors. He is the epitome of a backup catcher, good glove, some pop, and plenty of on field leadership.

Sacramento River Cats (Giants) 8 - OKC Comets 6 

LHSP Jackson Ferris followed a poor start Tuesday against Sacramento with a good start, allowing 1 run in 5.1 IP.  

OKC scored 3 in the 2nd.  SS Hyeseong Kim led off with a double.  With one out 2B Ryan Fitzgerald and C Griffin Lockwood-Powell drew BB to load the bases.  3B Noah Miller singled to score Kim, and left the bases loaded. LF Zach Ehrhard walked to bring home a second run.  LF Kiké Hernández hit a SF giving OKC a 3-0 lead.  

In the 3rd, 1B Ryan Ward drew a BB and continued to 3rd  when DH Matt Gorski singled.  Ward scored when Fitzgerald hit a SF for a 4-0 lead. 

OKC stretched the lead to 6 in the 6th.  Gorski led off with a BB.  With one out, he stole 2nd.  With 2 outs, Miller singled to score Gorski.  Ehrhard drew a BB and Kiké singled to score Miller. 

After 5 scoreless innings, Ferris hit the proverbial wall.  He gave up a single, HBP, and BB to load the bases.  He got the next batter out, and was replaced by RHRP Wyatt Mills.  Mills allowed a SF. 

In the 7th, RHRP Edwin Díaz entered for what was supposed to be his final rehab assignment outing.  He issued a BB, allowed 2 singles before striking out 2 and giving way to RHRP Seth Halvorsen. Halvorsen walked the first batter but got the final out.  

In the 9th, RHRP Kyle Hurt and RHRP Nick Robertson combined to give up 6 runs, the final 4 on a grand slam.  

OKC lost 5 of 6 to the Giants AAA affiliate Sacramento.  

Noah Miller was the only OKC batter with more than 1 hit (2-4).  James Tibbs III (22) and Hyeseong Kim (7) each hit doubles for the only XBH by OKC. 

Box Score 

Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) 8 - Tulsa Drillers 6 

With RHSP Aidan Foeller indeed making his AA debut on the bump, he pitched a scoreless 1st inning.  In the 2nd with one out, the 2nd batter reached on a throwing error.  He scored on a triple.  The next batter popped out for the 2nd out.  The inning should have ended without a run scoring.  However, the triple scored the runner who reached on an error and after the triple, there was a BB and 3-run HR, for 4 unearned runs.  Foeller did allow a BB and double before getting the final out. 

In the 4th, SS Elijah Hainline walked and moved to 2nd on a one out single by C Hayden Gilliland. With two outs, both runners moved up on a WP and both scored on a 2-run single by DH Sam Mongelli. 

Tulsa took the lead in the 5th.  With one out, CF Mike Sirota, 1B Jake Gelof, RF Zyhir Hope each singled to load the bases.  3B Taylor Young singled home Sirota and Gelof to tie the game.  Hope to 3rd and Young to 2nd on an error.  Both hope and Young scored when Gilliland reached on an error. 

RHRP Roque Gutierrez pitched 4.0 scoreless innings, but tried to stretch it for a 5th inning.  He did not retire any of the 4 batters he faced in the 8th.  3 singles and a BB scored 1, and left the bases loaded for RHRP Lucas Wepf.  Wepf walked the first two batters he faced and Arkansas took the lead.  With one out, Wepf gave up a WP for another run, and left runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Wepf got the final two outs, but Tulsa went from leading by two to trailing by two. 

Tulsa put two runners on in the 9th, but came away with 0 runs and a loss. 

All Tulsa batters reached base safely.  They had 11 hits (all singles) and 5 BB. 

·      Mike Sirota – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run

·      Jake Gelof – 2-5, 1 run

·      Zyhir Hope – 2-4, 2 BB, 1 run

·      Elijah Hainline – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run 

Box Score 

Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 8 - Great Lakes Loons 7 

LHSP Sterling Patick had a rough outing.  In the first, he walked the first batter, retired the next batter, and then walked the next.  He allowed a single to load the bases but then walked his third of the inning to force in a run.  

Great Lakes came back and pushed across 3 in the 2nd inning with a pair of triples and SFs.  RF Samuel Munoz led off with a triple (2) and scored on 1B Cameron Decker’s SF.  C Chase Adkison singled and scored on LF Charles Davalan’s triple (2).  Davalan scored on LF Eduardo Quintero’s SF. 

In the 2nd inning, Patick gave up a 1-out single and RBI double to narrow the lead to 3-2.  Patick retired the next two batters.  

In the third hit a batter sandwiched between a pair of strike outs and was lifted.  RHRP Nicolas Cruz relieved Patick and retired the side. 

With two outs in the 4th, Davalan slugged his 16th HR. 

After a scoreless 4th, Cruz went back out in the 5th.  Things did not go as well.  He faced 6 batters.  4 singles and a double score 4 runs.  Cruz was relieved by RHRP Davis Chastain. 

With 2 outs in the 6th, 3 consecutive singles, by Decker, Adkison, and Davalan scored a run.  

In the 7th, RHRP Alex Makarewich faced 4 batters and walked all 4.  He threw 20 pitches, 4 for strikes.  RHRP Joseilyn Gonzalez got two popouts and a groundout to end the inning with only one run against. 

GL climbed to within 1 in the 8th.  Munoz led off with a HR (5).  Adkison walked and scored when CF Eduardo Quintero tripled (4).  He was left stranded.  

The Loons put two runners on in the 9th with one on, but could not get the tying run in. 

Every Loons batter reached base safely.  Davalan was a double from hitting for the cycle.  GL pitchers issued 12 BB. 

·      Charles Davalan – 3-5, 2 runs, 3 RBI, Triple (2), HR (16)

·      Eduardo Quintero – 3-4, 2 RBI, SF, triple (4)

·      Emil Morales – 2-5, double (11)

·      Samuel Munoz – 2-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI, triple (2), HR (5)

·      Chase Adkison – 2-3, 1 BB, 2 runs 

Box Score 

Ontario Tower Buzzers 6 – San Jose Giants 4 

Swingman RHP Jack O'Connor started his 1st game for Ontario after graduating from ACL.  He pitched 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit, 1 BB, with 3 K.   

In the 3rd inning, 3B Oswaldo Osorio doubled (3) and that was followed with a 2-run HR (14) from SS Mairo Martinus. 

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, RHRP Will Gagnon relieved O’Connor.  Gagnon walked the first two batters. He struck out the next batter.  He allowed a 2-run double, a BB, a RBI double, and a WP for a total of 4 runs in the 3rd inning.  Gagnon pitched a scoreless 4th and got the first 2 outs in the 5th inning before giving way to RHRP Jholbran Herder who got the last out of the inning. 

In the 6th, DH Joendry Vargas reached on an error.  With one out, Vargas stole 2nd and scored on an RBI single from RF Javier Herrera.  With 2 outs, Osorio hit a 2-run HR (5) to take the lead. 

In the 7th, with one out, 3 consecutive singles from Vargas, CF Brendan Tunink, and Herrera scored a run giving Ontario a 6-4 lead. 

Herder pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th innings. 

In the Ontario 8th, Martinus opened with a single.  With one out, he stole 2nd.  LF Ching-Hsien Ko drew a BB.  Martinus scored when 1B Easton Shelton singled.  After the 2nd out, Tunink walked to load the bases.  Herrera was then HBP scoring Ko. 

Ontario RHRP Jose Vasquez issued a walk in a scoreless 8th inning.  In the 9th, Vasquez was relieved by RHRP Jecsua Liborius.  Liborius gave up a leadoff double and then struck out the side to end the game. 

·      Mairo Martinus – 3-6, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double (23), HR (14)

·      Javier Herrera – 2-4, 1 run, 3 RBI

·      Oswaldo Osorio – 2-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double (3), HR (5)

·      Double – Connor O’Neal (8) 

Box Score