2015 Dodgers review: Austin Barnes

Austin Barnes was acquired by the Dodgers at the 2014 winter meetings, and figures to play a role on the Dodgers going forward, either as catcher or as a utility man of sorts.

What went right

Barnes had a solid season his first time in Triple-A, hitting .315/.389/.479 with 17 doubles and nine home runs in 81 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, with almost as many walks (35) as strikeouts (36).

He made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 2015, and in a few stints with the big club had a .361 on-base percentage in his 37 plate appearances.

With Oklahoma City Barnes stuck to catcher by design, outside of two games as designated hitter. In the majors, Barnes also started once at second base, and played another game — three innings in reserve — at third base, both positions he has played before in the minors.

Barnes was the fifth Dodger in the last 102 seasons to start at both second base and catcher in the same season, and the first one since Derrel Thomas in 1980. Barnes was also the 10th Dodger ever to play second base, third base and catcher in the same year, and again the first since Thomas in 1980.

Still technically with rookie status, Barnes was rated by Baseball America as the Dodgers' eighth-best prospect heading into 2016.

What went wrong

This was a super small sample size, but Barnes hit just .207 (6-for-29) in the majors with a .276 slugging percentage (two doubles).

Barnes was 2-for-13 (.154) after joining the Dodgers in September, but also walked four times and had a .353 on-base percentage during that short time.

Barnes threw out just one of eight (12.5 percent) attempted base stealers in the majors in 2015, and threw out 20 of 73 runners in Triple-A (27.4 percent), below his 31-percent career rate entering 2015.

2015 particulars

Age: 25

Stats: .207/.361/.276, .302 wOBA, 93 wRC+ in 20 games, 0.1 rWAR, 0.0 fWAR

Salary: $507,500, the major league minimum; Barnes earned a pro-rated share while in the majors in his three stints, earning a total of roughly $169,000.

Game of the year

Barnes was 1-for-1 as a pinch hitter on Sept. 15, with a single in the seventh inning against Boone Logan of the Rockies. That drove in Jimmy Rollins for the tying run for Barnes' first major league RBI. It was a line drive in the box score:

Roster status

Barnes has 60 days of service time and two option years remaining, having used one option in 2015.