One of the most pleasant surprises for the Dodgers last season was Austin Barnes. He finally got a chance at the full-time backup catching job, and he thrived.
He hit .289/.408/.486 in 262 plate appearances. That was good for a 142 wRC+, which was better than Cody Bellinger (138), Corey Seager (127) and Chris Taylor (126). Among catchers with 250 or more plate appearances (an arbitrary sample size to fit the narrative, for sure), Barnes’ wRC+ was second to none. Yankees’ slugging catcher Gary Sanchez was next best with a 130 wRC+.