As is typically the case when a team wins 19-2 like the Dodgers did against the Athletics on Thursday night, plenty of hitters in the team’s star-studded lineup aligned to have monster nights.
Shohei Ohtani homered twice in a six-RBI performance, tying the major league lead with 15 long balls this season. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also went deep, helping the club set a season-high for runs. Hyeseong Kim reached base all five times. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also combined to get aboard five times before being removed after the third inning, the lead at that point already 11 runs.
All of those accomplishments, however, paled in personal significance to what the Dodgers’ starting catcher did.
Making his major league debut after being called up in a major roster move the day prior, top prospect Dalton Rushing walked in his first at-bat, singled in the next and went two-for-four while navigating a pre-determined bullpen game behind the plate — a strong showing for a 24-year-old slugger with so much potential, the Dodgers cut longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes to get him on the roster.
“He’s very comfortable, I think, in a good way,” manager Dave Roberts said of Rushing, a second-round draft pick in 2022 who has blossomed into one of the most highly touted prospects in baseball. “I think he thought he was ready [for the majors] when he signed.”
Rushing’s rise wasn’t that quick, requiring the University of Louisville product to climb through the farm system over four minor-league seasons. But after batting .277 with 54 home runs, 185 RBIs and a .931 OPS as a farm hand, the Dodgers decided their minor league player of the year award-winner from last season was finally ready.
Read more: Dodgers call up catcher Dalton Rushing, designate Austin Barnes for assignment
As far as first impressions go, Thursday was a good start.
In the second inning, Rushing got a three-run rally started by drawing a leadoff walk. In the third, he worked a full count before blasting a belt-high sinker through the infield at 110 mph off the bat. In the eighth, he tacked on another base hit when a ground ball to first was deflected.
The Dodgers have been contemplating when to bring Rushing to the majors for a while, long ago convinced his bat was ready to handle big-league pitching.
It’s part of the reason why, during the second half of last season, they experimented with him in left field; a position where, at the time, he had a clearer pathway to regular playing time.
This offseason, however, the club decided to rededicate his focus to his duties behind the plate, “challenging him,” as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman put it, to improve his defensive fundamentals, pitching-calling during games and ability to build rapport with members of the pitching staff.
“He’s continued to improve and get better,” Friedman said. “When we drafted him, he was new to catching. So there were a lot of areas to improve upon. But his work ethic is off the charts. And he really cares about being great. Each challenge we’ve given him, he’s met that challenge. And the success he’s had, there’s also an important element of having our finger on the pulse of that with guys, in terms of moving them up.”
And over the last couple weeks, the ways Rushing could potentially impact the club’s MLB roster became increasingly more clear.
Two weeks ago, the Dodgers sorely missed a left-handed bat like his off the bench in a May 4 loss in Atlanta, a game that ended with Barnes and fellow soft-hitting veteran Miguel Rojas recording outs in tough right-on-right matchups against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias.
In Barnes’ final Dodgers start last Saturday in Arizona, his weakened throwing arm was also exposed, the Diamondbacks stealing three bases in a game Barnes one-hopped one throw to second base and airmailed another to the outfield.
Perhaps, if the Dodgers weren’t facing the prospect of a tight division race in this year’s talented National League West, such problems would have been more tolerable. But, with the team’s MLB-best 29-15 record affording them just a one-game division lead so far this year, it’s already become clear that fine margins could matter this season.
So, once the Dodgers returned home from their 10-game trip this week, the front office decided to pull the trigger.
Read more: Dodgers prospect Dalton Rushing sowing seeds of trust as he awaits his MLB debut
“Rush has obviously been on our radar for a long time in terms of when and how to introduce him to the major league team,” Friedman said. “I think with the improvements we’ve seen year over year, coupled with being in a tight division race … I think it falls in line with our consistent message of doing anything and everything we can to win.”
That didn’t mean cutting Barnes, who was in his 11th season with the Dodgers and won two World Series with the club, wasn’t difficult.
“Obviously Austin has been a huge part of this organization for a long time, he’s been in the middle of a lot of really big moments for us,” Friedman said. “His impact has been significant. So it was one of the harder decisions.”
Barnes’ departure sent ripples around the rest of the clubhouse, as well.
“I think everybody was surprised,” Clayton Kershaw said when asked of Barnes, whose 68 games behind the plate for the future Hall of Famer trails only A.J. Ellis for most in Kershaw’s career.
“It’s sad. Barnesy’s one of my best friends on or off the field. You won’t find a guy that competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anybody, and he always found a way, and he came up with some big moments for us throughout the years. I think a lot of people forget he was starting a lot of playoff games and winning a lot of games for us, getting big knocks. It’s sad to see someone like that go who’s been here that long, and I think we all kind of feel it.”
“It’s no disrespect to Dalton,” Kershaw added. “I know he deserves it, and he’s going to be a great player. It’s just for me, personally, I think for a lot of guys on the team, it was disappointing to see [Barnes] go.”
As the door on Barnes’ Dodgers career closes, however, a new one is opening for Rushing.
And one night in, the early results were promising.
“The last mile of his development is helping lead a major league staff,” Friedman said. “We felt like now is the right time to give him that opportunity, and for us to learn some things about him that you can’t know until they’re at the major-league level, and for him to experience the speed of game here, which will be insightful for all of us in terms of the next set of things to work on.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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