I like Austin Barnes. Let me start with that. When Andrew Friedman acquired him, I was elated. In his first full season (102 games) he hit.289 with a .408 OB% and OPS’ed .895. Pretty incredible! However, he hit .205 last year and is hitting .207 this year. In parts of 5 MLB seasons, here is what his BA/OB%/OPS is:
- 2015: .207/.361/.637
- 2016: .156/.270/.458
- 2017: .289/.408/.895
- 2018: .205/.329/.619
- 2019: .207/.302/.646
I really hate to say it, but 2017 was the outlier. Based upon that, I have to conclude that Austin Barnes cannot hit.