Austin Barnes

BIOGRAPHY

Austin Barnes was born December 28, 1989, in Riverside, California. He is a catcher in the MLB.

Barnes made the Opening Day roster as the backup catcher in 2017. On June 30, 2017, he recorded the first multi-homer game of his career (his first career grand slam and a three-run home run) and recorded a career-high seven RBIs against the San Diego Padres. He gradually saw more playing time, moving into a platoon role with Grandal for most of the season before taking over as the starter in the playoffs. During the regular season, he had a .289 batting average with eight home runs and 38 RBI in 102 games. In the 2017 NLDS Barnes had four hits in eight at-bats with a home run and a double in the Dodgers' three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 2018, Barnes started spring training battling elbow discomfort. He ended up being the backup to Yasmani Grandal, taking over the catching role more in the postseason when Grandal allowed two passed balls and made two errors in game 1 of the NLCS and another passed ball in game 3, resulting in Dodgers fans booing him and begging for Barnes to catch. Barnes hit .205/.329/.290 in 100 games with 4 home runs, 41 hits, and 14 RBI. An elite framer, he excelled defensively. He ranked third in the MLB for framing and defensive statistics, had a .993 fielding percentage, and allowed only one passed ball.

During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Barnes appeared in 29 games for the Dodgers, hitting .244/.353/.314 with one homer and nine RBIs. In the postseason, Barnes was the starting catcher for each of Clayton Kershaw's starts and in the World Series caught Walker Buehler as well. He had two hits in three at-bats in the Wild Card Series, two hits in two at-bats in the NLDS, and two hits in seven at-bats in the NLCS. In the 2020 World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, he had two hits in 13 at-bats. In Game 3, he drove in a run with a safety squeeze and also hit a home run, becoming only the second player to do both of those things in the same World Series game, joining Héctor López in 1961. The Dodgers won the World Series in six games with Barnes catching the final out with Julio Urias closing the game.

On February 15, 2021, Barnes signed a new two-year, $4.3 million, contract with the Dodgers, to avoid salary arbitration. He again was the back-up catcher behind Will Smith, appearing in 77 games and hitting .215 with six homers and 23 RBI.

On July 3, 2022, Barnes and the Dodgers signed a two-year contract extension worth $7 million. In 62 games in 2022, he hit .212 with eight homers and 26 RBIs.

In 2023, he played in 59 games, with a .180 batting average.