Los Angeles Dodgers: Austin Barnes is the Dodgers’ quiet assassin

Despite dropping game one of a three game set to the Diamondbacks, 3-6, the Los Angeles Dodgers sit pretty atop the MLB mountain top. In this rush to the top LA has enjoyed production from their quiet assassin, Austin Barnes.

The 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers are special, there is no other wait to paint the picture. Los Angeles currently sits atop the NL West with a 79-33 record, 15 games ahead of the second place Arizona Diamondbacks. Keep in mind, the Diamondbacks have the fourth best record in baseball and still are 15 games back. If LA swapped spots with the Nationals they would hold a 25.5 game lead over second place in the NL East.

This success can be directly attributed to the impeccable depth that the roster boasts. The starting rotation and bullpen has been nothing short of incredible, owning an MLB best 3.09 ERA. Offensively, the Dodgers trail just the Houston Astros in terms of WAR. Los Angeles is fantastic at getting on base, leading the MLB with their 10.6% walk rate.

This mix of lights out pitching and situational hitting has created the monster we know today as the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have an MLB best +201 run differential. In comparison, last season’s Chicago Cubs finished the season with a +252 run differential. The Los Angeles Dodgers are on pace for a +291 run differential.

In the midst of this success, the everyday baseball fan has touted the familiar faces as the cause of this uprising. Corey Seager, Justin Turner and Clayton Kershaw are all performing to par. New faces and surprise performers Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor and Alex Wood have all stepped to the plate. Even key role player such as Yasmani Grandal, Logan Forsythe and Yasiel Puig have thrived.

One man who not many are talking about is backup catcher and platoon partner to Yasmani Grandal, Austin Barnes. Last season MLB Pipeline touted Barnes as the eighth best catching prospect in baseball, now, the Riverside native has quietly become an assassin for the Dodgers.

In 62 games Barnes has posted a .285/.406/.518 slash line. His .924 OPS, 148 wRC+, and .395 wOBA all rank first in catchers with 160 plate appearances. On the Dodgers, Barnes is second to Turner in wRC+ and wOBA, while trailing Turner, Bellinger and Seager in OPS.

In all of baseball, Barnes ranks 20th, 18th and 20th respectively, in the same stats of batters with the same qualifications.

For those of you not familiar with the sabermetric scene in baseball, that means that Barnes is good. All of those stats effectively measure batters worth in separate ways.

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Barnes has been great for the Dodgers and has taken the ball he was given and has rolled with it. Despite ranking 11th on the team in games played, Barnes boasts the sixth best WAR. If Barnes had as many games played as Grandal, 90, his WAR would jump from 1.7 to 2.5, if everything remained the same. This would push Barnes ahead of Grandal.

Barnes success boils down to his ability to get on base. Trailing just Logan Forsythe in walk rate on the team, Barnes’ 15.8% walk rate is the 11th best in the league of players with 160 plate appearances.

In conjunction, there are only seven catchers in the entire league, with the same amount of at-bats as Barnes, that see more pitches per at-bat than Barnes’ 4.10.

The young catcher works the count, allowing him to see more pitches and shoot the ball back up the middle; this is all textbook hitting that has been preached to baseball players since they were little. Barnes is second on the team, again to Forsythe, in contact up the middle – returning the ball back to the sender 41.7% of the time.

Next: Dissecting the Dodgers' turnaround against southpaws

All in all, Austin Barnes does nothing flashy, he does not hit bombs like Cody Bellinger or hit in the .300’s like Justin Turner. He simply has become the quiet assassin for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the team should keep it that way. The less the opposition know about Barnes’ talent, the better.

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.