Although every Dodger fan on the planet knew it was coming, many – perhaps even most – were hoping against hope that maybe… just maybe the Dodgers might reconsider.

They did not.

On Thursday afternoon, the Dodgers officially announced that 29-year-old Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes had been activated from the 10-day Injured List for a mild left groin strain, and optioned 24-year-old rookie catcher and Dodgers 2016 first-round draft pick Will Smith back to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

It’s not that Barnes, a lifelong Dodger fan and Fullerton, CA native whom the Dodgers acquired from the Miami Marlins on December 11, 2014 (along with Chris Hatcher, Andrew Heaney and Kiké Hernandez in exchange for Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, Miguel Rojas and cash) isn’t a good defensive and offensive catcher, quite the contrary, in fact. It’s that Dodger fans immediately embraced Smith, a Louisville, KY native and former University of Louisville Cardinal Bird, when he slugged his first major league home run in only his fourth major league game … and it was a walk-off home run.

Barnes was slashing .231 / .345 / .393 / .738 with four home runs and 15 RBI when he strained his left groin on May 26 while running the bases against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The injury was said to be minor in nature and he appeared in two rehab games with the team’s Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes this past Tuesday and Wednesday. In those two rehab games, Barnes went 2-for-5 (.400) with two singles, a RBI, a run scored (second base to home), with one walk and one strikeout. On defense he played five and seven innings behind the plate respectively.

“It was kind of a weird little thing. In Pittsburgh, when I was coming around the base, kind of just a sharp little pain,” Barnes told ThinkBlueLA after his first rehab outing on Tuesday. “But yeah, it’s behind me. I think we did a real good job by attacking it and moving past it.”

Smith appeared in six games with the Dodgers, his first stint with the major league club, and went 6-for-23 (.286), with two home runs, one double, and three RBI. On May 31, he became the first Dodger whose first major league home run was also a walk-off home run since former Dodgers catcher Dioner Navarro did so on August 12, 2005.

Prior to his call-up to the bigs, Smith was slashing .290 / .404 / .551 / .954 with eight home runs, eight doubles, and two triples, while driving in 28 for the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

Earlier this week, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Smith needed to play regularly to hone his defensive and offensive skills and that this would not be possible if they were to carry three catchers on their current 25-man roster.

They did not.

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