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Los Angeles Dodgers Position Preview: Catcher

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Andrew Wright | Last updated Feb 19, 2025 1:00 PM ET

The Los Angeles Dodgers will head into the season with the same catching duo they've had for the last several seasons. The duo of Will Smith and veteran Austin Barnes has been a staple behind the plate for Los Angeles, and that will be no different this year.

Smith is dealing with a minor ankle injury to start the spring, but it's not expected to cause him to miss much if any, time. He should be healthy enough to play on Opening Day in Tokyo when the Dodgers host the Chicago Cubs for a two-game series.

Barnes has been with the Dodgers for all 10 seasons of his MLB career, and he is well aware of his role on the team. The last time Barnes played more than 100 games in a season was in 2017, when he appeared in 102. Last season, he appeared in just 54 games, the least of his career.

The platoon between Smith and Barnes is expected to be much of the same this season, with Smith getting a majority of the playing time. If the Dodgers have a week in which they have a game all seven days of the week, it would be expected that Smith would catch five of those seven games, and Barnes would get two of them.

The Dodgers have MLB's No. 2-ranked catcher , Dalton Rushing, who could be called up to the big leagues and make his MLB debut at any given point this season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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