With catching at a premium throughout the league, the Los Angeles Dodgers are fortunate enough to carry two elite, starting-caliber backstops in Austin Barnes and Yasmani Grandal.
Given the talent level of both catchers, Barnes and Grandal are expected to platoon with one another this season, with the former receiving the majority of his opportunities against left-handed pitching.
Heading into another year with Barnes and Grandal forming a tandem of sorts is an area of the roster Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is pleased with and confident in, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I think it was a significant factor in our success last year. The Grandal-Barnes tandem, if you look at it relative to the rest of the league, we feel it’s a real competitive advantage,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said this spring. “I don’t know (how playing time will be split up this year). I think competition is a good thing.
“We’ve got two guys who are extremely talented. Yasmani Grandal obviously has a tremendous track record, especially against right-handed pitching. Both are elite at what they do behind the plate and it’s something that, no matter the day, no matter who we’re playing, we feel that’s going to be a real advantage for us this season.”
As Friedman notes, both Barnes and Grandal were at the top of the leaderboard in pitch framing last season. Having that skill, along with their offensive ability, makes them two of the more valuable catchers in all of baseball.
Though Grandal lost his starting role by the end of last season, he still slugged over 20 home runs for the second consecutive year.
Barnes enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2017 that saw him post an on-base percentage of over .400, and an on-base plus slugging that nearly exceeded .900.
That success led to Barnes and Grandal both being ranked among the top-10 catchers in all of baseball by MLB Network’s The Shredder.
