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Dodgers News: Austin Barnes Suffers Sprained Ankle in Loss to the Braves

Saturday night’s loss to the Braves hurt the Dodgers in more ways than 1. Clayton Kershaw got hit hard and the offense could not break through despite Atlanta committing a few costly errors. LA also had to work around a short bench with Max Muncy out. 

In the top of the 4th innings, Austin Barnes hit a ball to shortstop Dansby Swanson that he airmailed to first, pulling Freddie Freeman off of the bag. While trying to avoid the tag, the DOdgers catcher stepped awkwardly on the bag. 



And while the Dodgers did score a run on that play, Barnes appeared to be in some pain. He limped up and down the first baseline before appearing to talk the medical staff into leaving him in the game. Barnes finished out 8 innings of the game before being replaced behind the plate in a double switch. 

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After the game, Dave Roberts revealed that Barnes had suffered a mild sprain of the ankle. The Dodgers will wait until he comes in Sunday morning for the game to evaluate him. That could include testing such as x-rays. 

While the hope is that Barnes will be able to stay active since he stayed in the game, the Dodgers do have options. Keibert Ruiz is always there and ready to go in Triple-A, and he has hit very well this past week with them.

Updates coming tomorrow.

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5 Comments

  1. Why risk hurting it more and causing a lingering issue? Especially when they have Ruiz, who would be starting on many teams.
    I wouldn’t want to play 1st base w a sprained ankle let alone catcher!

  2. With Seager out, I would move Will Smith to first base permanently to get his bat in the lineup consistently. Move Muncy to 2nd base, Lux at short and Turner at 3rd. Bring up Keibert Ruiz and let the kid play at Catcher, back him up with Barnes occasionally. This brings a new bat into the fold for our anemic offense. In my opinion, Freidman did Ruiz a poor turn this offseason when he signed Barnes to a two year contract even though Ruiz is ready to play. There is only one reason that makes any sense that he did this….the idea perhaps that Will Smith was being considered for another role on the team instead of behind the plate.

  3. Barnes is the best pitcher handler and studies the hitters weaknesses he’s not going to be a good hitter but it doesn’t matter teams won titles without having a Johnny bench behind the plate as long as they can handle the pitching staff. Will Smith is getting better but not as good as barnes. Yeager wasn’t a good hitter but a great defensive catcher.That’s why Kershaw wants Barnes behind the plate. Dodgers have enough power to score enough runs but if Barnes was the starter our pitching staff will have a much lower era that’s for sure.

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