Los Angeles Dodgers: Three surprises in store for the 2019 season

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3. Austin Barnes returns to 2017 form

If you surveyed Dodger fans you would probably find out that more fans expect new addition Russell Martin to have a bigger impact than Austin Barnes in 2019 and for good reason.

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The Dodgers obviously had a ton of success with bringing back an old friend in Matt Kemp last season and Barnes really fell off in 2018 from a great 2017 campaign. Combine that with the fact that Martin has the fifth-best on-base percentage among catcher in the last three years and it is easy to see why he has more upside.

And while we do think that Martin will be valuable as a veteran catcher and will see his numbers slightly increase, it will be Barnes that benefits the most from finally having enough playing time to get in a rhythm.

I think that is a huge understated part about how players perform, especially catchers. Barnes was never given the ability to really get in a groove in 2018 with Grandal winning the starting job and starting off the season scolding hot.

Barnes did play in just two fewer games last year than 2017 (100), however, only 59 of those games he started. Only 31 of which he was tasked to play all nine innings.

Barnes will be and should be the starting catcher in 2019. He might not get a huge amount of playing time but he should appear in at least 120-130 games.

With constant looks at the plate and the ability to get his timing and mechanics down, we will see the Austin Barnes that thrived offensively in 2017.

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We already know that Barnes is, at the very least, going to give a great four-plus pitch at-bat nearly every time. With constant opportunities, those good at-bats will turn into results.

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