It is a proverb that we have all heard many times throughout our respective lives:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

But what if it is broke?

The Dodgers have played 98 games thus far this season and remain in first place in the National League West with an impressive 57-41 record which has them 4.0 games ahead of both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants.

That’s the good news.

The not so good news is that their back-up catcher, 33-year-old Austin Barnes, is having the worst season of his thus far nine-year major league career.

In the 35 games in which the Fullerton, CA native and ninth-round draft pick in 2011 by the Florida Marlins out of Arizona State University has appeared in this season, Barnes is slashing a horrible .108 / .193 / .127 / .320 with 37 strikeouts in his 102 official at-bats.

In the simplest of terms and meaning absolutely no disrespect whatsoever to the man often referred to as future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw‘s personal catcher, Austin Barnes is ‘broke,’ and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts continuing to send him out there to ‘work through it’ is not only hurting the team as a whole, but is also doing a huge disservice the popular Dodgers backstop. It has also caused Barnes to fall out of favor with a good many of his former fans.

During Sunday’s ugly 8-4 loss to the AL West first place Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Barnes flied out to right for the second out of the second inning, struck out looking for the second out of the fourth inning, grounded out to short for the first out of the seventh inning, and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the ninth to end the game.

“It’s been frustrating,” Barnes said postgame about his offensive struggles this season. “I mean, sometimes I feel pretty good, and then nothing to show for it. And then, you know, it’s been a frustrating year, for sure.”

“He’s been frustrated. Obviously on the offensive side it hasn’t been good and he’s, you know, working his tail off to get right and work through some things, and just not getting the results that we’d like,” Roberts told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame. “And so, then you flip it to the defensive side and he just cares so much about the pitchers and preventing runs, and, you know, when you go out there and you’re putting fingers down, you’re trying to navigate the pitcher, and nothing seems to be working, and I think he just reached his breaking point right there.”

So how do you ‘fix’ a ‘broke’ Austin Barnes? There are two ways, actually, the first of which is very extreme and not something that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman is known for doing – designating Barnes for assignment. The second way is far more kind and without question the best way to ‘fix’ Barnes – send him to Triple-A Oklahoma City to try to figure out what’s ‘broke.’

The problem with this second (but far more humane) method is that it would require Barnes to agreed to and accept the demotion, as he is long out of team options. That said, spending a little time in a considerably less stressful environment while still playing against very formattable opponents is, without question, the best way for Barnes and Dodgers coaches to (hopefully) figure out what’s wrong with him.

To be fair and in spite of another ‘0-fer’ for Barnes’ in Sunday’s ugly 8-4 loss to the AL West first place Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, that loss was more the result of a less-than-stellar start (I’m being kind here) by 23-year-old Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan than Barnes’ continuing struggles with the bat. The New York City native and Dodgers sixth-round draft pick in 2021 out of Boston College allowed eight runs – all earned – on eight hits, while striking out four and walking five.

It gets worse.

All five of the Rangers batters that Sheehan walked scored.

“The challenge was one I gave myself, was not being in the zone enough,” a noticeably upset Sheehan told reporters postgame. “Obviously, they’re a really good lineup, but I really did it to myself. Just not in the zone nearly enough. So yeah, I’ve got work to do.”

Despite Sunday’s loss, the Dodgers finished their nine-game road trip taking two of three from the New York Mets at Citi Field, two of three from the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and two of three from the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.

“It was a great road trip,” said Roberts. “Obviously, you want to finish it off with a win and see Emmet as a young ballplayer trying to gain some confidence, but he’s a tough kid. This road trip was a fantastic road trip. Really proud of the way we played.”

The Dodgers return home on Monday to open a nine-game homestand – three against the Toronto Blue Jays, a day off, three against the Cincinnati Reds, a day off, and three against the Oakland Athletics.

Play Ball!

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