The Los Angeles Dodgers called up lefty Charlie Barnes before Wednesday’s game against the Athletics, and after one very long appearance, he is headed back to the minor leagues.
Barnes, a reliever who can start and go the distance, was brought in on Wednesday to do one thing: eat innings.
His immediate call-up came after Wyatt Mills, another depth pitcher, was demoted following one relief outing.
The Dodgers pushed back Shohei Ohtani’s start to Friday’s second game of the San Diego Padres series. At the same time, the Dodgers moved up Roki Sasaki’s next start to Thursday’s series opener, leaving LA stuck with a bullpen game on Wednesday.
After crushing the A’s on Monday and Tuesday, the Dodgers made the call to use Jack Dreyer as the opener for the finale.
Dreyer struck out the side, and instead of having a traditional bullpen game where another pitcher comes in for an inning or two, Barnes entered in the second inning and pitched seven innings, completing the game without the need for another pitcher.
He allowed seven runs on 12 hits, including three home runs, resulting in the Dodgers losing 7-1. However, considering that this was the team’s third consecutive road series during a grueling stretch of summer games, Barnes fulfilled his role effectively.
“It was great to come in and give them length. That was something they needed with today being a bullpen day,” Barnes said, per The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett.
“Obviously the results weren’t what I wanted. I don’t think they were what the team wanted. But I was happy to provide some length.”
Who is replacing Charlie Barnes on the Dodgers?
After the game, Barnes was handed a ticket back to OKC, getting demoted back down to the grind, while the Dodgers get right-hander Paul Gervase ready for the upcoming Padres series in LA on Thursday.
While it is a common practice for teams to rotate their organizational depth in this fashion, skipper Dave Roberts made it clear that it is never easy to give a player their walking papers.
“Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of practice, and it’s not a good conversation,” Roberts said. “But a lot of these guys understand that they are stopgaps right now, and that’s part of having options, so you can kind of go up and down and fill holes when needed.
“But for him it’s the longest he’s gone, certainly in the big leagues, and so that’s a learning experience and an opportunity that he earned, we gave him, so that’s a positive. But I mean, we still got to be able to cover our downside and add arms and things like that.”
With Gervase, the Dodgers get a higher ceiling player with promising stuff, and he should be an upgrade over Barnes, the previously demoted Wyatt Mills, and the DFA’d Jonathan Hernandez.
Gervase has figured things out in OKC recently, and it will be interesting to see what he offers during his latest major league stint.
One Response
Roberts is an excellent chess player and he has a really good grasp of the skills of his players. Knowing his personnel is one of his greatest strengths.