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Austin Barnes agrees to two-year extension with Dodgers

Austin Barnes agrees to two-year extension with Dodgers


Austin Barnes agrees to two-year extension with Dodgers

n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”rich”,”width”:550,”__typename”:”ExternalEmbedContent”},”$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({“locale”:”en-us”,”slug”:”austin-barnes-agrees-to-two-year-extension-with-dodgers”,”type”:”story”}).parts.2″:{“data”:{“type”:”id”,”generated”:true,”id”:”$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({“locale”:”en-us”,”slug”:”austin-barnes-agrees-to-two-year-extension-with-dodgers”,”type”:”story”}).parts.2.data”,”typename”:”ExternalEmbedContent”},”type”:”oembed”,”__typename”:”ExternalEmbed”},”$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({“locale”:”en-us”,”slug”:”austin-barnes-agrees-to-two-year-extension-with-dodgers”,”type”:”story”}).parts.3″:{“content”:”In 31 games this season, Barnes has batted .179 with four home runs, 12 RBIs and two stolen bases. His true value, however, comes from his work behind the plate. In addition to being a respected game-caller, his strongest asset is his framing, which this season ranks in the 94th percentile among Major League catchers, according to Statcast. That’s well ahead of Smith, who ranks in the 43rd percentile.nnThose abilities are a big part of why pitchers like Clayton Kershaw like working with Barnes so much. While Barnes isn’t Kershaw’s personal catcher per se, he has caught seven of the veteran ace’s 10 starts this year, and 48 of 70 over the past four years.nnExtension talks between Barnes and the Dodgers have been ongoing for a couple of weeks, and the deal got done fairly quickly because, according to Barnes, “it just made sense.”nn“I wanted to be here,” said Barnes. “It’s a great group of guys, and I believe in what’s happening in this organization. So it’s great to be here for another two years.”nnA ninth-round Draft pick by the Marlins in 2011, Barnes has spent his entire Major League career with the Dodgers. In 455 games, he’s slashed .223/.333/.354 with 28 home runs and 124…

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