The Curious Cases of Logan Forsythe and Austin Barnes
The Dodgers have lost two in a row, but the sky is not falling. They will stay the course and they will win the NL West. Nobody is dead. This too shall pass! Must I keep reminding you? Of greater concern to me at this juncture is WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED TO LOGAN FORSYTHE AND AUSTIN BARNES? I must say that it irks me when people who have never
The Dodgers have lost two in a row, but the sky is not falling. They will stay the course and they will win the NL West. Nobody is dead. This too shall pass! Must I keep reminding you? Of greater concern to me at this juncture is… WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED TO LOGAN FORSYTHE AND AUSTIN BARNES?
I must say that it irks me when people who have never played the game of baseball, criticize, demean and totally denigrate a player who they don’t like, despise or who is simply doing very poorly… like Logan Forsythe and Austin Barnes. These guys work so long and so hard to try and get to the majors and many fans attitudes are so cavalier towards them. It is curious that both are doing very poorly at the bat this year but what is the most curious is that no one asks that Barnes be cut while almost everyone asks that Forsythe be executed… or worse! Maybe it’s because of the fact that Forsythe makes about $8.5 million more than Barnes. The facts are that both players are very bad according to Bill James OPS classifications:
| Category | Classification | OPS Range |
|---|---|---|
| A | Great | .9000 and Higher |
| B | Very Good | .8334 to .8999 |
| C | Above Average | .7667 to .8333 |
| D | Average | .7000 to .7666 |
| E | Below Average | .6334 to .6999 |
| F | Poor | .5667 to .6333 |
| G | Very Poor | .5666 and Lower |
Barnes has a .585 OPS while Forsythe have .577 OPS… both are rated as “Poor.”
I am sure that it is just a matter of time until Logan Forsythe is released. He can’t be traded – there is no market for him, however, I understand why the Dodgers acquired him and even re-signed him. He is much better than he has shown. I can speculate why he is not flourishing, but it is what it is. He is a great teammate, hard worker and student of the game, who just has not had any success in LA.
Austin Barnes seems to slip by without much criticism because he hit well last year. In 2017, he hit .289 with a .408 OB% and a .895 OPS, which is almost “great.” He has fallen off the face of the earth and maybe needs a few weeks at OKC of playing everyday to get his stroke back. Yasmani Grandal has been extremely hot of late, and Barnes can’t get in a groove on this team, right about now.
Kyle Farmer cannot be a catcher… maybe an emergency catcher, so what about Will Smith? He’s not on the 40-man roster, but that’s easy enough. I think where there’s a Will, there’s a way. Why not call him up? Austin Barnes is a fine catcher – his catcher ERA (CERA) is 3.45, just about the same as Yasmani Grandal (3.48). BTW, Kyle Farmer’s CERA is 13.50… just sayin…. They could call up Rocky Gale, but can he hit any better than Barnes? I doubt it. I still like AB a lot, he just needs reps to get his stroke.
Rants & Raves
- The Dodgers are now tied for 2nd with the Yankees for Team ERA. The Stros’ are #1.
- El Gasolino is back – this is his last chance! Book it!
- Striker Buehler will be fine. This knocks the rust off and in a game or two he will flourish!
- Let Alex Verdugo play – hit him #1!
- Tom Koehler never threw a pitch as a Dodger… and maybe he never will unless he re-signs on a minor league deal, but I still like the idea. It just didn’t work – low risk, no reward!
- I wonder if Marshall Kasowski’s stuff could play in MLB right now? I think it might…
- Rich takes the Hill tonight.
- Puig will likely be back tonight… barring any setbacks. Who goes? Logan?
- It has occurred to me that Chase Utley may step away after his trip to Philly…
- The Dodgers have been linked to Shawn Greene of the Tigers. He might be in their price range.
- Has any team ever had such a huge stable of relievers at their beck and call than the 2018 Dodgers?
- Has Brock Stewart been abducted by aliens? Man, has his stock dropped.
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Discussion (40)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The Dodgers have always been built on better than good defense. Therefore I was okay (???) or somewhat okay with Logan at 2nd. For me, the lost offense should have been offset by CT3, Seager, JT. Bellinger…, but was not, making Logan’s lack of offense more pronounced. But the problem for me is that Forsythe is regressing where his strength is…defense. He already has more errors at 2B and 3B this year than in all of 2017, and in significantly less chances. Right now, Logan is not helping the team, and is probably hurting it.
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Barnes should stay as a backup catcher and the Dodgers should ride Grandal as far as they can. Smith is cooling off considerably. In his last 10 games he is batting .211/.285/.395/.680 at AA. I do not see him improving moving up to MLB and in a backup position. That is not helping the team in the long run. Gale could make the jump and provide the same offense that Barnes does, but Gale is not on the 40 man. Plus, Barnes knows the pitchers which is far more important. This is one where patience is going to need to prevail. Let Smith continue to develop, and Barnes is what he is…a backup catcher.
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Verdugo should be allowed to play everyday, but will he? What happens to him when Puig comes back?
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Machado was having his career year in 2018 when he moved to SS. He started out on fire with LAD while playing SS. When he went to 3B to replace JT, his offense has suffered. I am generally not a conspiracy theorist, but any correlation????
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Brock Stewart needs a change in environment. He last pitched on 07/21 and pitched 5.0 innings allowing 1 run on 7 hits and 1 walk, with 5 K’s to get the win. His ERA is 3.04 in the PCL, which is not bad. But he will never be a significant contributor to LAD so they might as well move him (if they can). Otherwise he is emergency depth.
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I have no desire for Shane Greene. He has 43 IP and compiled a 4.19 ERA, 3.97 FIP, and 1.279 WHIP for 2018. He also has 11 BB and 46K, so he does have good control. With 7 HRs in 43 IP, may too good control? In July he has 6.0 IP, allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, 0 walks, and 4 K.
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There is no denying that the Dodgers have a boatload of relievers to call on. However with a declining closer, and absolutely nobody who can be called a lockdown 8th inning setup bridge to that declining closer, the lack of quality late inning high leverage pitchers is not good. There are far better options available than Greene. Yes, Barraclough, Kela, Leclerc all had bad games this past week, but all three are better options than Greene. Adam Conley is a better choice. His 2018 ERA is 2.63 in 27.1 IP. However that includes one horrific game where he allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 0.2 IP. If you eliminate that game his ERA is 1.35 in 26.2 IP (4 runs).
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Another option is to trade for a starting pitcher and move Stripling and or Maeda to the bullpen. That has to be under consideration.
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Therealten made a comment yesterday, “You can’t pitch people 5 innings all year and then leave them in for seven.”
I was thinking the exact same thing. Stripling goes a strong 4+ before he bottoms out; Maeda goes a great 6 before he bottoms out; Kershaw 5 strong before a bad 6th. If you do not allow the pitch count to grow over the season, how can you expect them to pitch deep in the games. And if the starting pitching cannot go deep in the games, then you better have a great bullpen. Maybe that is why NYY went after Britton rather than a starting pitcher which they need. That is what the Royals did in the 2015 WS. Starters have not been able to bail themselves out of a jam all year long, why change now? Is it because Doc is not comfortable with the bullpen as it is? Right now the best reliever is Caleb Ferguson.
As you know Marshall Kasowski is one of my favorites although I have to check the spelling on his name every time i look up his stats.
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I expect his stuff may play at the MLB level but I would be a bit concerned about his control and more importantly his command at this point. His strange delivery would no doubt be a bit of a quandary for major leaguers also and his control has improved four fold as the season progressed but I expect he still needs to refine his command. It is huge jump from RC to LA.
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A good sign – last night he walked the first two hitters he faced in his Tulsa debut and then proceeded to induce a double play GB and a weak infield out.