PT TOMORROW: NL West—Who's behind the plate in Dodgerland?
Feb 23 2018
The somewhat surprising news out of Dodgers camp is that after essentially overtaking the catching duties throughout the 2017 playoffs, Austin Barnes (C/2B, LA) appears destined to enter the season as the back-up to last year’s Opening Day starter, Yasmani Grandal (C, LA).
Barnes made a splash last year, especially in the fantasy community, where his top-shelf plate discipline (80% ct%, 15% bb%), speed (115 Spd, 4-for-5 on the basepaths) and lack of platoon splits (.886 OPS vs LHP, .902 OPS vs RHP) in 218 at-bats had all the makings of a top-flight catcher.
But according to manager Dave Roberts, the 29-year-old switch-hitting Grandal, a free agent at the end of the season, will likely get the majority of at-bats...
Almost!
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