On December 10, 2014, Barnes was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with Chris Hatcher, Andrew Heaney, and Enrique Hernández, in exchange for Dan Haren, Dee Gordon, Miguel Rojas and cash. He was assigned to the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers. On May 23, 2015, he was called up to the Major Leaguesfor the first time when Yasmani Grandal went on the 7-Day DL with a concussion. He made his MLB debut as the starting catcher for the Dodgers on May 24, 2015,originally wearing number 65. and had one hit in three at-bats in his debut, with his first MLB hit being a single to center field off of Dale Thayer of the San Diego Padres. He returned to Oklahoma City after his short time on the Dodgers roster and was named as a starter on the Pacific Coast League team for the mid-season Triple-A All-Star. He was also named to the post-season PCL all-star team and Baseball America's Triple-A All-Star team. He rejoined the Dodgers in September He played in 20 games for the Dodgers with six hits in 29 at-bats. In 81 games for the Oklahoma City team, he hit.315 with nine homers and 42 RBI. Barnes appeared in 21 games for the Dodgers in 2016, hitting.156 and 85 games for Oklahoma City, hitting.295. He changed his number from 65 to 28. He also appeared in two games in the 2016 National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals, with one pinch hit appearance and one pinch run appearance. Barnes made the Opening Day roster as the backup catcher in 2017. On June 30, 2017, Barnes recorded his first multi-homer game of his career and recorded a career high seven RBIs against the San Diego Padres. He gradually saw more playing time, moving into a platoon role with Grandal for most of the season before taking over as the starter in the playoffs. During the regular season, he had a.289 batting average with eight home runs and 38 RBI in 102 games. In the 2017 NLDS he had four hits in eight at-bats with a home run and a double in the Dodgers' three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the 2017 NLCS against the Chicago Cubs, he had two hits in 15 at-bats and in the 2017 World Series against the Houston Astros, he had four hits in 23 at-bats. In 2018, Barnes started Spring Training battling elbow discomfort. He ended up being the backup to Yasmani Grandal, taking over the catching role more in the Postseason when Grandal allowed two passed balls and made two errors in game 1 of the NLCS and another passed ball in game 3, resulting in Dodgers fans booing him and begging for Barnes to catch. Barnes hit.205/.329/.290 in 100 games with 4 homeruns, 41 hits, and 14 RBI. An elite framer, he excelled defensively. He ranked third in the MLB for framing and defensive statistics, had a.993 fielding percentage, and allowed only one passed ball. In the 2018 NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, Barnes had two hits in 18 at-bats. In the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, he was hitless in eleven at-bats. His best game in 2018 came on September 4 against the New York Mets, where he crushed a two-run homerun, putting the Dodgers on the board for the first time in the game and ultimately leading to a 11-4 victory over the Mets. In 2019, Barnes was named the Opening Day starting catcher after Grandal signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. However, he got off to a slow start and on July 26 he was sent down to Oklahoma City to make room for rookie catcher Will Smith to take over the everyday catching duties. Barnes was batting.196 prior to being sent down. He appeared in only 75 games in the majors in 2019, hitting.203, while he hit.264 in 23 games in the minor leagues. Barnes signed a one-year, $1.1 million, contract with the Dodgers after the season, avoiding arbitration.
Nickname
Austin Barnes wore his rookie-year nickname "SAM" on his jersey during the 2018 MLB Players Weekend. This nickname originated when Barnes was sent on a taco run during spring training. Upon returning to the clubhouse, teammate A. J. Ellis joked that Chase Utley didn't know Barnes' name. Utley replied that he knows that it is Sam, and the name stuck.
