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Dodger Blue > Dodgers News > Should Dodgers Start Austin Barnes Or Yasmani Grandal At Catcher For World Series?
Dodgers News

Should Dodgers Start Austin Barnes Or Yasmani Grandal At Catcher For World Series?

Jeff Spiegel
October 23, 2017
4 Min Read
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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While it was clear the Los Angeles Dodgers had a quality backup catcher in Austin Barnes, that a debate over whether he or Yasmani Grandal should start became worthy of having was a surprise. Yet, the sentiment prompted a friend of mine to ask why Grandal started in place of Barnes in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

If you had told me I’d be receiving that text three months ago, I would have assumed you were crazy. To think of how quickly this competition has become a debate (during the playoffs, no less) is amazing, but it still leaves many wondering: Who should the Dodgers be starting behind the dish?

Up until Game 4 of the NLCS, the answer was Barnes. He went 4-for-8 with four runs scored, one double, one home run, one stolen base, a walk and three RBI in the NL Division Series. The NLCS, however, was a different story.

Barnes was just 2-for-15 with one run, one walk and no extra-base hits in five games against the Chicago Cubs. He made four starts during the NLCS.

But what about Grandal? After going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Game 1 of the NLDS, he found himself without an at-bat until Game 4 of the NLCS, when he went 0-for-1 but with three walks.

The reason for the demotion, however, is rooted much further back than the postseason. Grandal slashed just .217/.292/.444 in the second half of the season, albeit with 11 home runs.

While Grandal was slumping, Barnes was mashing — to the tune of a .295/.419/.438 slash line in the second half, a hot streak he obviously carried into the NLDS but has since cooled.

So what does Dodgers manager Dave Roberts do now?

Barnes, who has been consistently better for the past three months, struggled mightily in the NLCS. Grandal, who has become one of the best offensive catchers in baseball since joining the team, struggled mightily after the All-Star break, but turned in a solid performance in his one NLCS start.

Is a platoon the answer?

While Grandal performed better against right-handed pitchers this season (.250/.305/.486 with 20 home runs) than he did against lefties (.233/.320/.349 with two homers), the problem is that Barnes — albeit in a smaller sample size — actually out-hit Grandal in both scenarios.

This season, Barnes batted .257/.372/.514 against lefties and .321/.444/.459 against righties.

As it stands, the Houston Astros will send lefty Dallas Keuchel to the mound in Game 1, followed by Justin Verlander in Game 2, and presumably fellow righties Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers will follow in Games 3 and 4, respectively.

Given everything mentioned above, the scenario that seems to make the most sense is giving Barnes the nod in Game 1. He’s better against lefties, by a wide margin, and he shouldn’t be punished for a bad 15-at-bat stretch.

However, if Barnes does struggle in Game 1, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Grandal get a shot against Verlander in Game 2, just to see if he can get things going at the plate.

The bottom line here is that the Dodgers find themselves with a seemingly bottomless pit of riches, per usual these days.

The fact that Grandal started just one game in the NLCS must send eyes rolling across the league. And yet, this is where we find ourselves as the Dodgers head into the biggest week of baseball this franchise has seen in nearly 30 years.

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TAGGED:2017 World SeriesAustin BarnesLos Angeles DodgersYasmani Grandal
ByJeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a local newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Dodgers and Raiders since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNation.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Dodger I'm going past and present (sort of) on this one. Recently, I was a die hard Yasiel Puig guy. The energy he played with was amazing and the hope and expectation he brought every single night was captivating. Whether it was a rifle from the warning track to throw a guy out at second, an aggressive bat flip or licking his bat, I was here for ALL of the Yasiel Puig era. Past tense, I'd go with Eric Gagné. This wasn't so much about Gagné himself as it was the experience of cheering for him. Yes, he was on steroids — but the dude was unlike any pitcher I've ever seen — he was NASTY. I still stand by the claim that if I needed one out and my life depended on it, and could choose any pitcher from any era to get me that out, I'm taking roided up Gagné in a heartbeat. Favorite Dodger Moment A few jump to mind immediately. Being born in November of 1988, I missed the last World Series by weeks — which also meant I didn't get to see the Dodgers win a playoff game until I was nearly 16. They had made the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, but were swept both times. In 2004, though, I got to see them win behind a complete game shutout from Jose Lima, and that was pretty freaking special. The next in-person moment that came to mind was the Manny Ramirez bobblehead night pinch-hit grand slam from 2009. Vin Scully claimed it was the loudest he had heard Dodger Stadium in 20 years, and it's hard to disagree. As far as ones I didn't get to see live, I'll throw one more out there: the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs that tied a game against the Padres in 2006 (plus the walk-off from Nomar Garciaparra in extra innings) was an all-timer. Obviously, the impending Dodgers World Series will quickly jump to the top of this list...
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