Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Provides Unnerving Update on Injured Catcher Austin Barnes

This doesn't sound very good.

The Dodgers almost escaped Cincinnati with a perfect series finale on Thursday. The team won 6-0, and only needed to use two pitchers as Clayton Kershaw pitched another gem, going seven shutout innings while striking out nine.

All was looking good, until the top of the ninth inning, when Austin Barnes came up with two outs. Barnes was given an inside pitch, and got struck on the right hand. He immediately was in pain, and the trainers had to come out and look at him.

Barnes was able to head down to first base and stay in the game, but when the bottom of the ninth inning rolled around, Will Smith was in at catcher, and Barnes was seen going down to the clubhouse.

After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided an unnerving update on his injured catcher.

"It didn’t look good, didn’t sound good from his reaction," Roberts said. "Hopefully the x-ray is negative, but just from the looks of it, it didn’t sound good."

Dave Roberts provides an update on Austin Barnes: "Hopefully the x-ray is negative but just by the look of it it didn't sound good." pic.twitter.com/HXPEQozkN2

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 8, 2023

Roberts clarified that the "didn't sound good" was in response to the ball hitting his hand and his reaction after, however, he was yet to hear an update on the x-ray.

Fortunately, Barnes spoke to the media after getting the x-rays, and had a little more information.

"It didn’t feel too good. It seems like it’s alright, the first test it seems like there’s no broken bones or anything," Barnes said. "It hurt, though. It didn’t feel good."

Austin Barnes walks us through the at-bat where he was hit in the hand. pic.twitter.com/mHCopBTftT

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 8, 2023

It'll be interesting to see how it responds the rest of the day and on Friday, as the Dodgers start a three-game series in Philadelphia against the Phillies.

Smith will obviously be able to start, however, you never want to only have one catcher on the roster. So if Barnes is unable to play this weekend, the Dodgers will need to make a move to bring up another catcher. Roberts said it won't be top prospect Diego Cartaya, though.

"I don’t think it’ll be Diego. Diego’s more of a longer-term play," Roberts said. "We have a couple guys in Triple-A that are not on the roster right now, so we’d have to make a 40-man move."

They'll see how Barnes is feeling over the next 24 hours, but there's definitely a chance we see a new catcher in the big leagues if Barnes isn't able to go.

That'll likely be either Hunter Feduccia or Patrick Mazeika.