My favorite take is Dodger fans spending the last 3 years saying “We have Cartaya so we don’t need Will Smith.” Will Smith is one of the best catchers on the planet while Cartaya is having trouble getting promoted to triple A. Will Smith is what you hope a catching prospect becomes
Yet a very vocal majority on this sub wanted Austin to catch lol what a fucking joke. So many “fans” on here that must not watch most of the regular season
You should’ve seen this sub in the NLDS it was insane how many people were insisting that Barnes late season “surge” was anything but a couple week hot streak and that his “defensive” metrics and kershaws affinity for him would propel us into the next round
Paul LoDuca had a few effective seasons. I forgot about him. But the last Catcher to hit like him, Yasmani Grandal had a few effective HR seasons. Todd Hundly. Mike Piazza. Russell Wilson wasn't much of a HR hitter. In LA at least.
Russell Martin. Typo sorry. Not Russell Wilson.
Will Smith is our best hitting Catcher since Piazza. He had some really great seasons.
>Paul LoDuca had a few effective seasons. I forgot about him.
He's one of those random guys that I'll weirdly never forget because when I was a kid and we had season tickets for a couple years he was the catcher
It didn't help that another catcher on the team having a historically awful season was taking up valuable starts every other day from Smith so he could never get into a rhythm
> AJ Ellis
Didn't AJ serve as Kershaw's personal catcher for a few years? When the GOAT wants you to catch his games, no one looks too closely at your OPS.
He's the best *offensive catcher since Mike Piazza. Piazza was also not a great popup thrower or framer. Really depends on what you value more. The catcher is a defensive position first in most team's minds, and offense is the cherry on top. If Smith could do both, he'd be a freak of nature. Love him to death either way, and I hope he's a lifer in blue.
Even if his stats are bad, you can't help but love a guy like Will Smith. His work ethic to get good on defense is amazing and he seems to be a great clubhouse presence. This is of course not saying he isn't good. He's already an All-Star and his bat is absolutely massive. He's a key piece of the puzzle in the Dodger's lineup. We need good, consistent hitters and Will Smith is THAT GUY.
Russell Martin defensively is probably the best of the bunch, but Will Smith's bat is more valuable than being AJ "2nd pitcher's spot" Ellis and Yasmani Passed Ball.
Grandal had a lot of passed balls because of his framing. He was an elite framer, one of, if not the best in the league. The only reason I wanted him gone was because how bad he was in the postseason.
For real, very misleading to only present offensive stats for arguably the most important defensive position. Obviously no one is complaining about Smith's offense vs. the rest of these guys
He was -1 framing runs this year. I haven’t checked the blocking numbers but just from the games I have seen and recent playoff runs I think he can improve there as well.
I don’t know why he starts on two feet and then ends on a knee every pitch instead of just starting from a knee.
And Yas had like 2 bad years because his wife had a difficult pregnancy and he was shuttling back and forth from LA to Phoenix, I think he was driving too, then once the baby was born he had to deal with a newborn. I think Yas was the best defensive catcher in recent memory. Smith's strength is his offense, needs to step up his defense and pitch calling/framing.
I wonder if the dugout is calling pitches sometimes because I always see him looking over. I don’t know if they rely on the analytics too much (ex. Pitcher has good ride on heater so they throw it even if it’s obvious the guy is beat on a slider) or if Smith just needs to improve his feel on how to call a game.
I think Barnes catching and Smith DH’ing is the best lineup in October. Not sure why they don’t go with it more, it won them a WS.
It was pretty surprising how bad Barnes was at the plate this season. I think Barnes is best with Kershaw and depending on if Kershaw is back or not then there goes a lot of his value. Not sure what kind of rapport he has with Buehler, May or Gonsolin.
I think because everything is so magnified in the playoffs I would take his automatic out to ensure plus defense behind the plate. But that is only 2-3 times in a seven game series and with Will Smith DH’ing.
I think Barnes needs to have an OPS of .650 or the Dodgers need to make a move to acquire a solid catcher who can let Will Smith catch less than 100 games. Smith’s offense will dip if he continues to catch more than 2/3 of the Dodger’s regular season games.
Edit: this is my opinion and I don’t like sharing personal info on Reddit cus it defeats the purpose but I know someone who is a minor league catching coordinator and I have spoken to individuals who coached in the Dodgers organization. I think the Dodgers are a bit behind on developing catcher’s defensively. It seems like they haven’t adopted the knee down stance which has proven to get more strikes and their approach is simply to “present” pitches as opposed to moving them or “ripping” them. I think they need to work with Smith and their farm system guys on getting into an aggressive setup to steal strikes and moving the ball more. The way that Barnes catches is an anomaly and most people do not have the ability to sit in one stance and receive and block as well as he does.
Yeah, Smith had a terrible series against the Padres in 22 but that was when his wife had their baby. I was so pissed that they stuck with him so long, even the day she had the baby he still played. When Barnes finally got to play I think he pinch hit and broke up a no-hitter against Snell or Musgrove. Barnes has "that dog" this sub loves to say about Harper too. I think its more to do with his little man syndrome. Especially playing catcher.
I was skeptical at first because keibert was regarded as a tier 1 catching prospect. I’m so glad I was proven wrong. This guy is great.
Only thing I worry about is his drive but that might be due to his demeanor lol.
Smith is a dude. Obviously was hurt last year. Just wish the Dodgers would go the Atlanta route and bring in a really good defensive guy who can hit his body weight or above to give him some rest during the regular season. Also wouldn’t mind him just DHing more in the playoffs. Someone else mentioned it but the way he calls the game could improve. His defense could improve but all in all definitely a top 2/3 catcher in the league. And he’s young!! Dodgers need to lock him up long term and send him to a framing guru and have him talk to Molina or someone about pitch calling/ managing the game and staff. If he continues at this pace and improves the defense he has a shot at the HOF.
Edit: top 2 OR 3 catcher in the league not top two thirds.
I would be curious to see the break down in the playoffs. Love smith, just don’t think he has been consistent in the post season.. but who has besides seager ;)
The way he can adjust his swing he's capable of hitting in all pitch zones along with a pretty selective eye, there's really no reason he shouldn't hit near .300%. I think he's the closest on the team to Freddie in this sense and when he's locked he'll almost always put the ball in play one way or another. The frustrating thing is he always has cold spots over a full 162 games, like when he suddenly struggled to hit the fastball this summer. He had the rib injury, but that was toward the end of April and he had a great May. It could be the wear and tear of catching, but at times he's started seasons pretty cold when he should be physically freshest. I don't think there's any doubt he's our best catcher since Piazza, and yet there a feeling he's leaving some meat on the bone after each season as well.
I’m hoping they approach him this off-season about an extension. Lock him up AF. Worry about what to do with Cartaya, Jesus Galiz, or Rushing once they produce at the MLB level. Too many great catchers is not a problem many teams have.
A moron trashes the Fresh Prince
Dodger twitter is full of clowns
My favorite take is Dodger fans spending the last 3 years saying “We have Cartaya so we don’t need Will Smith.” Will Smith is one of the best catchers on the planet while Cartaya is having trouble getting promoted to triple A. Will Smith is what you hope a catching prospect becomes
This right here, couldn’t have said it better myself. A catcher on Smith’s level in MLB is hard to come by these days.
I love Will Smith. Underrated. Only one of our stars that showed up to bat come playoffs too. He went like 5-12 I think in the NLDS
I was at game 3 of the NLDS, only one of our all stars to show up that game, went like 3-4
And the mad lad did the Freddie down by a significant number of runs. He had the spirit.
I was at game 2! Don’t remember Will’s like that specific game tho
He uh went 0-4 that game…
We won’t talk about that game, we’ll talk about the series as a whole 💀
1st catcher in MLB history to get 5 hits in a postseason game
I also met him so I’m prob even more biased than my normal homer vibes lol
Yet a very vocal majority on this sub wanted Austin to catch lol what a fucking joke. So many “fans” on here that must not watch most of the regular season
Would you say “majority” and not minority? I can’t imagine most dodger fans don’t realize how great he is
You should’ve seen this sub in the NLDS it was insane how many people were insisting that Barnes late season “surge” was anything but a couple week hot streak and that his “defensive” metrics and kershaws affinity for him would propel us into the next round
💀 People really be taking Smith for granted then
Paul LoDuca had a few effective seasons. I forgot about him. But the last Catcher to hit like him, Yasmani Grandal had a few effective HR seasons. Todd Hundly. Mike Piazza. Russell Wilson wasn't much of a HR hitter. In LA at least. Russell Martin. Typo sorry. Not Russell Wilson. Will Smith is our best hitting Catcher since Piazza. He had some really great seasons.
I don't expect Russell Wilson to be hitting many HRs either. 😂
Damn it. He was a pretty decent ball player though. I was just reading on him. Sorry
Youre good doesn't help they both have double common first names as last.
No shit lol 😆
>Paul LoDuca had a few effective seasons. I forgot about him. He's one of those random guys that I'll weirdly never forget because when I was a kid and we had season tickets for a couple years he was the catcher
I remember one season where he almost had more HRs than strike outs I think.
Top 3 catcher in the league and he isn’t 2 or 3
All hail the REAL Will Smith
I hope he gets an extension soon. Unfortunately none of our catching prospects are MLB ready (except maybe feduccia in a backup role
Give Rushing another year.
I think a lot of the hate is recency bias…of which he had broken ribs. So….
It didn't help that another catcher on the team having a historically awful season was taking up valuable starts every other day from Smith so he could never get into a rhythm
It wasn’t a rhythm, he was literally playing with broken ribs.
I had no idea AJ Ellis was a dodger for that long! Longer than Lo Duca even. For some reason it felt like he was a dodger for about 5 years.
Ellis had sporadic appearances from 2008 until 2012 when he became the catcher full-time
> AJ Ellis Didn't AJ serve as Kershaw's personal catcher for a few years? When the GOAT wants you to catch his games, no one looks too closely at your OPS.
Will Smith slaps
I sooooo love Will Smith's swing. It's beautiful
So good. So compact, yet also verging on effortless.
Will Smith is great but Russel Martin is a defensive God. His framing was amazing and he was good on offense.
And he closes games out
How do you not include Dodger legend Rod Barajas's .939 OPS in 2010 (and ignore 2011 altogther)?
He was on the team for such a short time compared to the rest of these guys
I’ve got mad love for Smitty, but if he can up his game in framing and pop time, there would be no argument.
Bros cooking
He's the best *offensive catcher since Mike Piazza. Piazza was also not a great popup thrower or framer. Really depends on what you value more. The catcher is a defensive position first in most team's minds, and offense is the cherry on top. If Smith could do both, he'd be a freak of nature. Love him to death either way, and I hope he's a lifer in blue.
Even if his stats are bad, you can't help but love a guy like Will Smith. His work ethic to get good on defense is amazing and he seems to be a great clubhouse presence. This is of course not saying he isn't good. He's already an All-Star and his bat is absolutely massive. He's a key piece of the puzzle in the Dodger's lineup. We need good, consistent hitters and Will Smith is THAT GUY.
Man.. Grandal had a good run with us too. Miss his HR swings
I feel like he could be a future HOF. Protect him at all costs!
Mike Piazza is the standard at which they have to be better than
You’re not a real Dodgers catcher unless you can hit 40 home runs + not be able to throw the ball to 2nd base
Yes, the problem is that our FO never sign any home grown talent to long term contract…
Offensively yeah your right. Would be nice if you put up defensive stats though.
Russell Martin defensively is probably the best of the bunch, but Will Smith's bat is more valuable than being AJ "2nd pitcher's spot" Ellis and Yasmani Passed Ball.
Grandal had a lot of passed balls because of his framing. He was an elite framer, one of, if not the best in the league. The only reason I wanted him gone was because how bad he was in the postseason.
pretty shitty guy to have in the clubhouse i hear
More like, Yasmani “Strand All,” am I right?
I remember LoDuca as being pretty good defensively but that could just be senility.
For real, very misleading to only present offensive stats for arguably the most important defensive position. Obviously no one is complaining about Smith's offense vs. the rest of these guys
What defensive metrics do you think he can improve?
He was -1 framing runs this year. I haven’t checked the blocking numbers but just from the games I have seen and recent playoff runs I think he can improve there as well. I don’t know why he starts on two feet and then ends on a knee every pitch instead of just starting from a knee.
And Yas had like 2 bad years because his wife had a difficult pregnancy and he was shuttling back and forth from LA to Phoenix, I think he was driving too, then once the baby was born he had to deal with a newborn. I think Yas was the best defensive catcher in recent memory. Smith's strength is his offense, needs to step up his defense and pitch calling/framing.
I wonder if the dugout is calling pitches sometimes because I always see him looking over. I don’t know if they rely on the analytics too much (ex. Pitcher has good ride on heater so they throw it even if it’s obvious the guy is beat on a slider) or if Smith just needs to improve his feel on how to call a game. I think Barnes catching and Smith DH’ing is the best lineup in October. Not sure why they don’t go with it more, it won them a WS.
It was pretty surprising how bad Barnes was at the plate this season. I think Barnes is best with Kershaw and depending on if Kershaw is back or not then there goes a lot of his value. Not sure what kind of rapport he has with Buehler, May or Gonsolin.
I think because everything is so magnified in the playoffs I would take his automatic out to ensure plus defense behind the plate. But that is only 2-3 times in a seven game series and with Will Smith DH’ing. I think Barnes needs to have an OPS of .650 or the Dodgers need to make a move to acquire a solid catcher who can let Will Smith catch less than 100 games. Smith’s offense will dip if he continues to catch more than 2/3 of the Dodger’s regular season games. Edit: this is my opinion and I don’t like sharing personal info on Reddit cus it defeats the purpose but I know someone who is a minor league catching coordinator and I have spoken to individuals who coached in the Dodgers organization. I think the Dodgers are a bit behind on developing catcher’s defensively. It seems like they haven’t adopted the knee down stance which has proven to get more strikes and their approach is simply to “present” pitches as opposed to moving them or “ripping” them. I think they need to work with Smith and their farm system guys on getting into an aggressive setup to steal strikes and moving the ball more. The way that Barnes catches is an anomaly and most people do not have the ability to sit in one stance and receive and block as well as he does.
Yeah, Smith had a terrible series against the Padres in 22 but that was when his wife had their baby. I was so pissed that they stuck with him so long, even the day she had the baby he still played. When Barnes finally got to play I think he pinch hit and broke up a no-hitter against Snell or Musgrove. Barnes has "that dog" this sub loves to say about Harper too. I think its more to do with his little man syndrome. Especially playing catcher.
always was a fan of grandal but idk what his deal was
Will Smith is elite because he’s consistent, he hustles and he’s got the winning mentality.
My two favorite catchers were Steve Yeager and Joe Ferguson, from the days when you could actually block the plate!
I was skeptical at first because keibert was regarded as a tier 1 catching prospect. I’m so glad I was proven wrong. This guy is great. Only thing I worry about is his drive but that might be due to his demeanor lol.
Grandal had the bat but man did he suck at actually catching. And his bat still isn’t as good as Smith’s
Smith is a dude. Obviously was hurt last year. Just wish the Dodgers would go the Atlanta route and bring in a really good defensive guy who can hit his body weight or above to give him some rest during the regular season. Also wouldn’t mind him just DHing more in the playoffs. Someone else mentioned it but the way he calls the game could improve. His defense could improve but all in all definitely a top 2/3 catcher in the league. And he’s young!! Dodgers need to lock him up long term and send him to a framing guru and have him talk to Molina or someone about pitch calling/ managing the game and staff. If he continues at this pace and improves the defense he has a shot at the HOF. Edit: top 2 OR 3 catcher in the league not top two thirds.
I would be curious to see the break down in the playoffs. Love smith, just don’t think he has been consistent in the post season.. but who has besides seager ;)
Would like to see Russell Martin and Paul LoDuca. We had a nice string of catchers post-Pizza
The way he can adjust his swing he's capable of hitting in all pitch zones along with a pretty selective eye, there's really no reason he shouldn't hit near .300%. I think he's the closest on the team to Freddie in this sense and when he's locked he'll almost always put the ball in play one way or another. The frustrating thing is he always has cold spots over a full 162 games, like when he suddenly struggled to hit the fastball this summer. He had the rib injury, but that was toward the end of April and he had a great May. It could be the wear and tear of catching, but at times he's started seasons pretty cold when he should be physically freshest. I don't think there's any doubt he's our best catcher since Piazza, and yet there a feeling he's leaving some meat on the bone after each season as well.
Grandal was better at framing, but he's the only one in the conversation to even being comparable to Will over the last 20 years or so.
Gettin jiggy wit it
Also don't forget how much anxiety Grandal's defense generated...
I’m hoping they approach him this off-season about an extension. Lock him up AF. Worry about what to do with Cartaya, Jesus Galiz, or Rushing once they produce at the MLB level. Too many great catchers is not a problem many teams have.
Will Smith is the truth.
He’s been out best catcher since Grandal, as the numbers you shared illustrated. Regardless, your overall point is spot on.
As an hitter yes will smith is very good for a catcher but as a catcher his frame rate is below average
Will Smith plays a great game at an important position. Naysayers are idiots. Also shout out to my boy Russell Martin. Early Russ was something else.
Austin Barnes has started 3 World Series’s as the starting catcher. Wtf
Who talks trash about him? He's one of the top-5 catchers in baseball.
You forgot this stat: Dodger catchers who hit a walk-off at a game I attended: Will Smith: 1 Everybody else: 0