Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2024
Catching is the most underrating position in baseball. If a team doesn’t have a good catcher, they cannot win a world championship. Baseball fans look at a catcher’s offensive statistics and ignoring his defensive statistics.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have two premier defensive catchers in the game. Most Dodger fans ignore Will Smith and Austin Barnes’ defense. They complain Smith and Barnes left runners on base.
Just before the domestic Opening Day, Smith signed a ten-year $140 million contract. Since his major league debut in 2019, he has been an offensive force. However, at 29, Smith’s offensive statistics have been declining, but his defensive statistics have improved.
In 2024, Smith played an integral role in the Dodger World Championship. Since the Dodgers had a plague of pitching injuries, Smith worked expertly with over thirty pitchers. He caught 32 potential base stealers. Though he committed 8 errors in 121 games, he made many fantastic plays that prevented many runs from scoring. Smith is a good pitch framer, but he allowed only 5 passed balls.
Smith was an All-Star in 2024 despite having the lowest batting average of his career. In 128 games, Smith had a .248 batting average with 20 home runs and 75 RBI. The Dodgers won’t have Smith to hit in the middle of the Dodger lineup anymore unless something drastically goes wrong.
Austin Barnes is one of the longest Dodgers. Many Dodger fans don’t realize Barnes’ worth to the team, but his teammates have deep respect for him. He does much research on the opposition. His work in the background is crucial for the Dodgers’ success.
Barnes’ offense isn’t that important, but he produced in 2024. In 54 games, Barnes had a .264 batting average, a home run, and 11 RBI.
The Dodgers have two good minor-league catchers, Hunter Feduccia and Diego Cartaya. Since 1948, when Roy Campanella became a Dodger catcher, the Dodgers have had a long, great catching tradition. Finding quality catchers on the free-agent market or via the in-trade market is difficult. Andrew Friedman doesn’t need to look for catchers.
