Friday was an interesting day in Dodger land, as Rod Barajas was brought back at the highest salary of his career for his age-35 season. Barajas will make $3.25 million next season, thanks in large part to his strong first impression in Dodger blue, as he hit .297/.361/.578 in 25 games playing for his hometown team. Those 72 plate appearances were great, but how great were they?
There have been 36 catchers in Los Angeles Dodgers history to amass at least 72 plate appearances, including Barajas. Here's how Barajas stacks up against the first 72 PA as a Dodger of those 35 other catchers. Barajas ranks...
- 4th in OPS (.939)
- 4th in SLG (.578)
- 7th in OBP (.361)
- T-7th in AVG (.297)
- T-2nd in RBI (13)
- T-2nd in HR (5)
- T-5th in hits (19)
- 9th in runs (9)
- 5th in extra-base hits (8)
Here are all the performances by LA Dodger catchers in their first 72 PA:
| LA Dodgers Catchers In Their First 72 PA | ||||||||
| Catcher | Year(s) | R | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Norm Sherry | 1959-60 | 11 | 5 | 12 | .358 | .403 | .657 | 1.059 |
| David Ross | 2002-03 | 12 | 6 | 13 | .297 | .375 | .641 | 1.016 |
| Doug Camili | 1960-62 | 11 | 5 | 17 | .309 | .347 | .618 | .965 |
| Rod Barajas | 2010 | 9 | 5 | 13 | .297 | .361 | .578 | .939 |
| Chad Kreuter | 2000 | 14 | 2 | 7 | .291 | .458 | .473 | .931 |
| Rick Dempsey | 1988 | 12 | 4 | 12 | .274 | .347 | .548 | .896 |
| Russell Martin | 2006 | 11 | 1 | 13 | .302 | .389 | .460 | .849 |
| Brad Ausmus | 2009 | 8 | 1 | 7 | .317 | .377 | .429 | .805 |
| Duke Sims | 1971 | 5 | 2 | 7 | .270 | .361 | .429 | .790 |
| Jason Phillips | 2005 | 6 | 0 | 12 | .306 | .361 | .419 | .780 |
| Mike Scioscia | 1980 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .290 | .348 | .387 | .735 |
| Johnny Oates | 1977 | 10 | 0 | 5 | .313 | .375 | .359 | .734 |
| Tom Haller | 1968 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .292 | .361 | .354 | .715 |
| Chris Cannizzaro |
1972 | 8 | 1 | 7 | .250 | .324 | .375 | .699 |
| Jerry Grote | 1977-78 | 5 | 0 | 8 | .274 | .352 | .339 | .691 |
| Dioner Navarro | 2005 | 6 | 1 | 6 | .258 | .361 | .323 | .684 |
| Tom Prince | 1994-96 | 6 | 1 | 9 | .226 | .310 | .371 | .681 |
| Jeff Torborg | 1964-65 | 5 | 1 | 7 | .254 | .324 | .349 | .673 |
| Alex Treviño | 1986 | 7 | 1 | 4 | .237 | .357 | .305 | .662 |
| Joe Pignatano* | 1957-58 | 8 | 3 | 7 | .203 | .282 | .375 | .657 |
| Joe Ferguson | 1970-71 | 7 | 2 | 8 | .219 | .292 | .344 | .635 |
| Mike Piazza | 1992 | 5 | 1 | 7 | .239 | .292 | .328 | .620 |
| Jack Fimple | 1983 | 8 | 1 | 8 | .231 | .265 | .354 | .619 |
| Charles Johnson | 1998 | 7 | 3 | 6 | .206 | .250 | .368 | .618 |
| Carlos Hernandez | 1990-92 | 6 | 0 | 4 | .258 | .306 | .303 | .609 |
| Gary Carter | 1991 | 5 | 2 | 7 | .177 | .278 | .306 | .584 |
| Todd Hundley | 1999 | 7 | 2 | 4 | .155 | .282 | .293 | .575 |
| John Roseboro* | 1957 | 6 | 2 | 6 | .161 | .278 | .290 | .568 |
| Mike Lieberthal | 2007 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .246 | ..278 | .275 | .553 |
| Paul LoDuca | 1998-99 | 5 | 1 | 5 | .194 | .292 | .258 | .550 |
| Ellie Rodriguez | 1976 | 5 | 0 | 9 | .196 | .347 | .196 | .544 |
| Jim Campanis | 1966-67 | 3 | 2 | 2 | .159 | .264 | .270 | .534 |
| Steve Yeager | 1972 | 10 | 1 | 7 | .164 | .282 | .246 | .528 |
| Angel Peña | 1998-99 | 6 | 0 | 4 | .206 | .239 | .265 | .504 |
| A.J. Ellis | 2008-10 | 4 | 0 | 9 | .175 | .243 | .190 | .433 |
| Brent Mayne | 2004 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .161 | .254 | .161 | .415 |
Both Joe Pignatano and John Roseboro actually began their Dodger careers in 1957, so some or all of their first 72 PA came in Brooklyn, even though they both accumulated more than 72 PA in Los Angeles as well. Only Norm Sherry, David Ross, and Doug Camili had a higher OPS than Barajas.