Angels All-Star Pens 3-Word Tribute to Former Teammate Shockingly Cut By Dodgers

Austin Barnes was behind the plate for all or part of Kenley Jansen's first three All-Star seasons in the major leagues. Although catchers are generally well-known to contribute to a pitcher's success by calling a good game behind the plate, individual recognition can be hard to attain.

That's especially true in the case of Barnes. His 11-year run as a second- or third-string catcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers ended Wednesday, when he was officially designated for assignment in favor of prospect Dalton Rushing.

Thank you, 15. pic.twitter.com/eao7LWQpSy
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 14, 2025

While the defending World Series champions move on to the next hot thing, Jansen took time out of his day to recognize Barnes, his teammate from 2016-21.

"(You're) the best!!!" Jansen wrote on his Instagram account.

Kenley Jansen's Austin Barnes Instagram tribute — @kenleyjansen74/Instagram

Jansen is off to a poor start in his first season with the Angels, going 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA. Opponents have a .977 OPS against him as he looks to climb MLB's all-time saves leaderboard. Jansen's seven saves this season give him 454 for his career, behind only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith — three Hall of Famers — on the career list.

Barnes, 35, was acquired by the Dodgers at the 2014 trade deadline. This season, he was hitting .214 as the backup to starting catcher Will Smith.

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From 2015-16, Barnes shuffled back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. Since 2017, however, he had been the Dodgers' entrenched backup catcher — first to Yasmani Grandal and Russell Martin, then to Smith — until Tuesday.

Barnes made his bones as a hard-nosed catcher, willing to get dirty, frame pitches with the best of his peers, and ably call a game for one of the league's best pitching staffs.

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Jansen, 37, was already established as the Dodgers' closer when Barnes made his major league debut.

In terms of innings pitched, Jansen has only thrown to Yasmani Grandal (189) and A.J. Ellis (194) more than he's thrown to Barnes (90.1). With Barnes behind the plate, Jansen limited opponents to a .491 OPS — lower than Ellis (.511), Grandal (.551), and any other receiver who caught Jansen for more than 34 innings.

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Opponents drew only 17 walks (compared to a remarkable 123 strikeouts) when Barnes was catching Jansen. Part of that is a testament to the dominant closer Jansen was at his peak.

It's also a testament to Barnes' framing and receiving skills that Jansen was able to pitch to opponents in favorable counts as often as he was. The surface-level stats bear that out — and so too, to a degree, does Jansen's three-word salute on social media to a beloved former teammate.

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