Roki Sasaki-Austin Barnes pairing is nothing personal, Dodgers’ Dave Roberts says
LOS ANGELES — It’s more than a coincidence. But it’s less than a commitment.
For the second consecutive start, Austin Barnes was paired with Roki Sasaki. Barnes has also caught Sasaki’s bullpens recently. But he is not Sasaki’s ‘personal catcher,’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“They’ve spent a lot of time together,” Roberts acknowledged. “It’s not like a dedicated battery at all. But I just felt that Roki had a good one over there (in Philadelphia). There’s some familiarity, and let’s kind of just go with that for a little bit.
“I don’t want to box myself in. Will’s our starting catcher. So when you start playing that game and then you box yourself in. I’m not going to do that.”
Will Smith is off to a good start, batting .324 with a .939 OPS (thanks in part to 10 walks in 13 games). But he got off to good starts each of the past three seasons only to suffer nagging injuries along the way and fade offensively in the second half.
The Dodgers haven’t played Smith on more than two consecutive days this season, using off days on the schedule and Barnes to keep Smith fresh.
“I think for me, I’m just more playing the long game,” Roberts said. “I think that all catchers across the board in the second half of the season start to get weary and get tired. I just wanted to make sure that we keep Will wanting for more and there’s a lot more left in the tank. I just think that right now, it’s just kind of good to kind of pick my spots. But yeah, he’ll get about the same number of at-bats that he’s gotten the last few years.
“Will wants to be in there every single day and that’s a good thing. But it’s my job to make sure, listen to the training staff, performance guys, and just what’s best for the player and make a decision. It’s not just even Will-specific, it’s all catchers across the board, over years of studying production with that position.”
Smith started a career-high 117 games at catcher last season and put up career lows across the board offensively.
WEDNESDAY STARTER
After throwing 103 pitches in six scoreless innings on Friday (the second-most of his career in an MLB start), right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto won’t pitch again until next Friday in Texas, staying on the once-a-week schedule the Dodgers want to maintain for Yamamoto and Sasaki.
That means the Dodgers will need another spot starter on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies. Landon Knack will fill Blake Snell’s spot in the rotation again on Tuesday.
Right-hander Bobby Miller was pulled after only 2 ⅓ innings and 55 pitches for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday, making him a candidate for that Wednesday start with the Dodgers.
“Was he?” Roberts said. “That’s interesting.”
Miller made just one spring start with the Dodgers and was shut down with a concussion after he was hit in the head by a line drive. He has pitched three times for OKC (once following an opener) and has walked 11 and thrown three wild pitches in 12 innings with a 2.25 ERA.
SHO TIME
Shohei Ohtani threw his weekly bullpen session on Saturday. He threw approximately 30 pitches, all fastballs of one variety or another – two-seam, four-team and split-fingered. He won’t progress to facing hitters until he incorporates his full pitch mix including his breaking pitch (slider) into his bullpen sessions.
“Then you start to do up-and-down bullpens, start-stop,” Roberts said. “Then you start facing hitters. So we’ve still got a lot of time.”
WEEK AHEAD
Both Evan Phillips and Tony Gonsolin are scheduled to make their next rehab appearances with OKC on Tuesday. Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start his rehab assignment with OKC on Wednesday.
Right-hander Michael Kopech threw a bullpen session in Arizona Friday and is scheduled to join the Dodgers next week and throw another one on Tuesday. Blake Snell is expected to test his sore shoulder by throwing on Monday.
UP NEXT
Cubs (RHP Colin Rea, 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 1-0, 6.43 ERA), Sunday 4:10 p.m., ESPN, 570 AM