While the Los Angeles Dodgers have stockpiled depth across the organization, one position they are particularly flush at is catcher. The club has several promising prospects knocking on the door, as well as two starting-caliber Major League backstops in Austin Barnes and Will Smith.
Barnes caught Clayton Kershaw in Thursday’s Opening Day matchup against the Colorado Rockies. Roberts expects the playing time at catcher to be fairly equal this season, although he acknowledged Smith could receive a few more starts.
“Obviously things can change and we’ve got to be nimble. I feel very confident with both guys, but if you’re talking about 162 games, I would expect right now Will to take down a few more starts than Austin,” Roberts recently said.
Since his rookie season in 2019, Smith has emerged as one of the best offensive catchers in all of baseball. He enjoyed his best showing yet last year, albeit in a 37-game sample due to the abbreviated 2020 campaign.
Roberts suggested Smith could be in line to catch at least 90 games this season. “I think with Will, with Austin, the combo, the sum is very good,” Roberts said. “I’ll take that sum against any combo in all of baseball production-wise, offensively and defensively.
“I don’t know the divvying up the playing time, but somewhere around 90 games, something like that, I think he can be a very impactful offensive player.”
Smith enjoyed a productive spring, hitting .366/.422/.585 with three doubles and two home runs in 15 games. Barnes also looked solid at the plate, batting .281/.395/.469 with three doubles and a homer in 14 games.
“Both of our guys had a good camp. Will’s continued to grow as a Major League player and there’s certainly a lot more in there on both sides of the baseball,” Roberts said.
“I think that they complement each other very well, they work well together. I just think he’s got to continue to get better learning pitchers, continuing to refine the skills receiving, but his throwing has been really, really impressive this spring.”
Smith growing more comfortable with Dodgers pitching staff
As he continues gaining experience, Smith noted at the end of February that he is growing more comfortable with the Dodgers pitching staff. “It’s being confident in my opinions, what fingers I’m putting down and having a reason for what I’m calling,” Smith said.
“For what I see and what I communicate to them. It’s just being confident. It’s a veteran staff and they know what they’re doing, but at the same time they run into times where they don’t know exactly what they want to do to a certain guy or what to throw.
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