ARLINGTON, Texas — Before the most impressive game he’d ever played at the plate, Austin Barnes talked about his work behind it.
He explained pitch framing. (Actually, he called it ”fighting for your pitcher, every pitch.”) He discussed the way he guides the Dodgers’ hurlers through rough patches. (“That’s our job, as a catcher, to put up zeroes. The pitcher-catcher relationship is something I take pride in.”) He showered praise on the Los Angeles staff. He did not discuss his offensive output.
He rarely does. He knows that most of his value to a team comes when he wears a glove—either at catcher, where he has started all but two of the Dodgers’ World Series games over their past three appearances, or at second base, where he can slot in when manager Dave Roberts needs to shuffle his defenders.