Austin Barnes on injured list with left big toe fracture, Dodgers recall Hunter Feduccia

Austin Barnes has been on the injured list for the second time in around five weeks due to a left big toe issue. The Dodgers catcher, Hunter Feduccia, was brought up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to cover for Will Smith due to a toe fracture that he sustained on Sunday night in Atlanta. The catcher was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday.

That is the same toe that Barnes broke in St. Louis on August 18. During that period on the injured list, he missed the required 10 days. With four games left in the regular season, Thursday, September 26, is the earliest that Barnes may be activated following his placement on the injured list on Monday.

A foul hit Barnes in the left toe. Sunday’s third inning saw a ball off the bat of Braves outfielder Jorge Soler, who continued to play behind the plate through the fourth. Will Smith pinch hit for Barnes in the fifth inning and played catch the remainder of the way when his turn in the lineup came up. In the ninth inning, which developed into a seven-run inning, Smith hit a triple and scored the game-winning run.

This season, Barnes is hitting.261/.327/.306 with a wRC+ of 84, which is both his second-best wRC+ of the previous four seasons and exactly in line with his career mark of 86 wRC+. Since 2017, this is his greatest hitting average.

This season, he has started 40 games at bat, which is less than the 51–55 starts he had the previous three seasons. With two weeks left in the season, Smith’s 108 starts this year are now just three short of his career high, and with Shohei Ohtani taking up full-time duties at designated hitter, there are few options to keep Smith’s bat in the lineup when he’s not catching.

Feduccia had appeared in 12 games with the majors in his previous two trips, starting one of them at bat. in the roster that is currently in use. On August 25, he helped Gavin Stone to a seven-inning, one-run start. He also got his first major league hit, a seventh-inning single off Drew Rasmussen.

In 82 games with Oklahoma City this season, the 27-year-old Feduccia hit.284/.409/.428 with 17 doubles, six home runs, three triples, and a 117 wRC+. He also ranked second on the team with a 16.9% walk rate.