On Thursday, the Dodgers did something that needed to be done, but most fans didn’t think would actually happen – they optioned catcher Austin Barnes to Oklahoma City and recalled rookie Will Smith. We’ve chronicled many times how Barnes has been very good behind the dish, but terrible at the plate. His slash line of .196/.288/.328/.616 is just abysmal, and hopefully the time in Triple-A will allow him to work on getting his swing back to where he’s not just an assumed out when his turn comes up to bat.
It will interesting to watch what happens with this situation – if Smith makes the most of this promotion, or if Barnes follows in the footsteps of Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig, who were both demoted mid-season and came back to help their team stronger than before.