August 7th, 2020 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Let’s get something straight right from the start: 30-year-old Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes is a great guy and an excellent teammate, and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone to tell you otherwise.
That’s the good news.
The bad news and to borrow a quote from Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda: “He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.”
Through the first 12 games of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, the Fullerton, CA native and ninth-round draft pick by the Miami Marlins in 2011 out of Arizona State University is a horrendous 2-for-20 (both singles), with a dismal slash line of .100 / .182 / .100 / .282. On the bright side, he does have one RBI, so there’s that. But here again, that’s the good news. The bad news is that he has eight strikeouts in those 20 at-bats (40%).
Horrendous in deed.
Things have gotten so bad for Barnes that he is often referred to on social media as the Dodgers ‘Designated Out.’ Taking it one step further, over his six major league seasons, Barnes has a career slash line of .225 / .339 / .354 / .693, with 17 home runs in 711 career at-bats.
There is no disputing that Barnes is an excellent defensive catcher. In fact, in the six games that he has appeared in thus far this season as the Dodgers catcher, he has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 59 total chances. But by the same token, the Dodger’s other catcher, 25-year-old Will Smith, also has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in (wait for it…) 59 total chances in the eight games in which he has appeared.
The blatantly obvious difference is that Smith is slashing .183 / .345 / .364 / .708 with one double, one home run, and six RBI. He has also struck out only twice in his 22 at-bats (9.09%). He also made a great play at the plate on Wednesday night on a spectacular catch and throw by Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor to preserve the Dodgers 7-6 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Although the sample size is unquestionably small, in his brief two seasons with the Dodgers, Smith has a slash line of .245 / .338 / .547 / .885, with 16 home runs in 192 career at-bats.
Should the Dodgers finally come to grips with the fact that Barnes is hurting the team more than helping it, they have 32-year-old journeyman minor league catcher Rocky Gale currently on their 40-man roster and taxi squad. That said, with a grand total of 22 major league games under his belt over four major league season, Gale is clearly a back-up back-up catcher at best.
At only 22 years of age and with zero MLB experience, it is unlikely that the Dodgers would call up Keibert Ruiz to replace the struggling Barnes, although it is possible. The young Valencia, Venezuela native is currently on the Dodgers 40-man roster and currently working out at the Dodgers alternate training facility at USC. At face value, this would be a logical option for Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts; but again, it is unlikely, with Ruiz having only nine games of experience at the Triple-A level.
However, there is one other option available to Friedman and Roberts – 37-year-old longtime Dodger catcher Russell Martin, who remains an unsigned free agent.
Although Martin’s age is unquestionably a huge factor, the East York, Canada native and Dodgers 17th-round draft pick in 2002 out of Chipola College in Marianna, FL, would probably be willing to give the Dodgers hometown discount to return to the team that he spent nearly half of his big league seasons with; at least until Ruiz is ready for The Show. Martin is clearly a proven clubhouse leader, and if he is willing to accept a short-term (one-year) deal, he could be exactly what (and who) the Dodgers need to replace Barnes.
Over 14 major league seasons, Martin has a career slash line of .248 / .349 / .397 / .746, with 191 career home runs. With the Dodgers last season, he slashed .220 / .337 / .330 / .667, with six home runs; clear evidence that Father Time is indeed catching up with him. However, it is difficult – if not impossible – to believe that he would be any worse than Austin Barnes.
Martin could also pitch if the need arose. Last season, he made four relief appearances for the Dodgers and did not give up an earned run in his four innings of work while recording two strikeouts.
But perhaps the biggest factor with Martin is that he has always been a huge favorite among Dodger fans.
…Barnes, not so much.
Play Ball!
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Posted in 
I once commented that Austin Barnes reminded me of former Kings goalie Rogie Vachon the way he defended the plate.
Will Smith is pretty much the same, plus he’s a better hitter.
I agree with bringing Russell Martin back.
I like the way Barnes handles the pitching staff. If everyone hits as expected plus the addition of the DH I think we can afford Barnes and the fresh prince of belair aka will Smith to platoon.
Ugh, I truly feel for Barnesy but it’s PROFESSIONAL baseball and you have to produce or the next guy they get will. He hasn’t and its a short season, they can ill afford semi automatic outs.
I doubt they could trade him for much so they would have to release him, right? I’d have signed Martin for the relative peanuts it would have taken on a team that EXPECTS to go to the World Series and win it.
I wouldn’t bring Martin back but I would make Smith the full time catcher and Barnes the backup with 1 or 2 starts per week, let’s see what Smith can do as the everyday starter.
According to the LA Dodgers website, Rocky Gale is not on the 40-man roster, so to use him as a replacement for Barnes would require another player to be DFA, or on 45/60 day IL. And, Gale’s MLB BA is .108 (37 plate appearances). I am only a fan, but it appears to me that Barnes is pulling his head off the ball on almost every swing, not watching the ball to contact. And, his body language indicates his confidence has been shattered. Now the Dodgers have wonderful hitting coaches and extraordinary hitters like Mookie Betts and Justin Turner who are much better evaluators than I, but sometimes it is just the simple rather than the complex to fix a problem. According to Statcast framing leaderboard, Austin Barnes is the 5th best pitch framer in all of MLB thus far in 2020, with Will Smith ranked 27th.
Currently the Dodgers have the no. 1 offense in MLB, scoring the most runs, most rbi, most home runs, and highest OPS; and, the pitching staff is second only to the Cleveland Indians in ERA (2.39 to 2.06). IMO, it would be making a mistake to try and improve the offense by replacing Barnes at the risk of hurting the pitching.
I agree. That was the main point I was making earlier.