Last week, catcher Travis d'Arnaud was released by the New York Mets. It didn't take him long to find a new employer, however, as on Sunday he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. D'Arnaud, 30, missed most of last season due to injury and was off to a slow start this year (.087/.160/.087 in 25 trips to the plate). He's struggled to remain on the field throughout his career, and has posted an 81 OPS+ since the start of the 2016 season. Nonetheless, he's a quality receiver who has produced at the dish in the past. That was enough to get L.A.'s interest. Interestingly, the Dodgers will now carry three backstops -- Austin Barnes, and Russell Martin are the others -- each of whom has played other positions. L.A. reportedly will use d'Arnaud in the field as well as behind the plate.<doc-sep>The Los Angeles Dodgers signed catcher Travis d'Arnaud to a one-year contract Sunday. The New York Mets had designated d'Arnaud for assignment on April 28 and released him on Friday. D'Arnaud missed most of last season because of an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. He had gotten off to a slow start this season, with only two hits in his first 23 at-bats. D'Arnaud, 30, had signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal this past offseason to stay with the Mets and serve as a backup catcher to Wilson Ramos. He had played his entire seven-year career with the Mets, batting .242 with 47 home runs in 407 games. He becomes the third catcher on the Dodgers' roster, joining Austin Barnes and Russell Martin. The Dodgers optioned infielder Matt Beaty to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday in a corresponding move.<doc-sep>Free agent catcher Travis d'Arnaud is in the Dodgers’ clubhouse, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports. The club has yet to make an official announcement, but they reportedly optioned third baseman Matt Beaty to clear a roster spot for d’Arnaud. The 30-year-old backstop was designated for assignment by the Mets at the end of April and formally released on Friday. Given his struggles this spring, it wasn’t an entirely unexpected move: d’Arnaud slashed just .087/.160/.087 with two hits and two RBI through his first 25 plate appearances of the spring. He hasn’t seen regular time behind the plate since 2017 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April, but will undoubtedly try to return to some of his pre-surgery numbers, including a .240+ average and double-digit home run totals. For the time being, he’ll slot in behind Austin Barnes and Russell Martin, as Castillo adds that the Dodgers have no immediate plans to trim their catching depth. According to comments made by manager Dave Roberts, the club is primarily interested in d’Arnaud as a right-handed bat in the lineup, and may use him in both the infield and outfield going forward.<doc-sep>Travis d’Arnaud, the Dodgers’ newest catcher, walked into in the visitors’ clubhouse at Petco Park five minutes before 11 a.m. Sunday. He was fitted for a cap and a batting helmet. He introduced himself to unfamiliar people and greeted a few familiar ones. Austin Barnes, the Dodgers’ starting catcher, had just finished a meeting with starting pitcher Kenta Maeda in preparation for the game against the San Diego Padres. Russell Martin, the Dodgers’ backup catcher, was playing cards with a few teammates. Neither seemed bothered. Neither had reason to be. The Dodgers will employ an unorthodox roster, at least for the time being, and carry three catchers after signing D’Arnaud to a one-year contract Sunday. They optioned rookie infielder Matt Beaty to triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the roster. Manager Dave Roberts explained the move was made to add another right-handed bat to a roster that recently lost A.J. Pollock for a considerable amount of time, leaving an uncomfortable imbalance. He added that D’Arnaud, whose brother Chase is a triple-A infielder in the Texas Rangers organization, could play in the infield and outfield in addition to catcher. D’Arnaud, however, has only played a position besides catcher in a major league game once — on Aug. 16, 2017, when he made an emergency start at third base and was flipped between third and second throughout the game, sometimes from batter to batter, to limit the chances of having a ball hit to him. Advertisement “We’ll see a run of left-handers,” Roberts said. “So to have that right-handed bat, we potentially could use one of those catchers to hit, and it just makes sense right now.” D’Arnaud, 30, was available after the New York Mets designated him for assignment last week and released him Friday, ending an injury-riddled career in Queens. He started the season on the injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. He returned to go 2 for 23 at the plate before the Mets let him go. He was a highly touted prospect who was one of the centerpieces in separate trades for Roy Halladay and R.A. Dickey, but injuries have marred D’Arnaud’s career. He’s appeared in 100 games in a season twice. He’s spent time on the injured list with a concussion, a fractured finger, a hyperextended elbow, a strained rotator cuff, a bone bruise in his right wrist and, last season, a torn ulnar collateral ligament. “We’ve always liked him behind the plate, the way he received and the quality of at-bat,” Roberts said. “He’s been a victim of injuries over the last few years. Great clubhouse guy and I just think [great for] adding the versatility and freeing up our other right-handers off the bench.” Sign up for our Dodgers newsletter » D’Arnaud said he grew up a Dodgers fan in Long Beach and attended Lakewood High School. His favorite player was Mike Piazza. He has a close relationship with Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, who was the Mets’ bench coach during D’Arnaud’s first three seasons in New York and officiated D’Arnaud’s wedding. The two are reunited as D’Arnaud seeks to start a new chapter back home. “It definitely makes it easier to see a familiar face, especially Bob,” D’Arnaud said. “We had a lot of great times together with the Mets, and I’m really looking forward to working with him again.” Bellinger not in lineup again Advertisement Cody Bellinger wasn’t in the Dodgers’ lineup for the second straight day Sunday after having his right shoulder pop out and in when he dove for a ball Friday. The outfielder said he’s had the shoulder separate at least three times before and maintained he isn’t concerned. “Once you push it back in, it feels pretty good,” Bellinger said. In those previous instances, however, Bellinger didn’t miss any games. This time, he said the team wants him to strengthen the shoulder because the more often the shoulder pops out, the looser it gets. He said the pain has subsided and believed he would have played Sunday if it was a night game. He took swings in the batting cage Sunday morning was encouraged. Roberts said he was available to pinch-hit Sunday. Advertisement “When you hear the trainer and the player says it feels pretty good,” Roberts said, “I think for me that calls for one extra day.” Cingrani debuts with rehab outing Left-hander Tony Cingrani logged a scoreless inning in his first rehab appearance for single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday. Cingrani is on the injured list with a shoulder impingement. jorge.castillo@latimes.com Advertisement Twitter: @jorgecastillo<doc-sep>
The Dodgers made a personnel move this morning. They signed former New York Met catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a one-year contract and put him on the active roster. The 30-year old Long Beach native has played parts of the last seven series including ten games in 2019 with the Mets. He was released by the Mets on Friday. D’Arnaud has not caught many games in the last two seasons. After starting 325 games at catcher for the Mets from 2014-2017, d’Arnaud had nine total starts at catcher from 2018 through this season. #Mets signed Travis d'Arnaud to a $3.5m contract for 2019. Because he was released, #Dodgers are only on the hook for portion of that (likely pro-rated minor-league minimum) — Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 5, 2019 The Dodgers have 39 players on their 40-man roster and now have five catchers on their roster. The corresponding move was optioning infielder Matt Beaty to Oklahoma City. Beaty was recalled on April 30th when the Dodgers put A.J. Pollock on the 10-day injured list. The 26-year old Beaty had three pinch-hit appearances and he was 2-for-3. He singled in his first major-league at bat in San Francisco and his single on Saturday drove in his first RBI. Bellinger out of lineup for second straight game The Dodgers will go for a series sweep against the San Diego Padres this afternoon and it will be without Cody Bellinger in the starting lineup. This is the second straight game Bellinger has missed the start. Prior to the game, Bellinger was out on the field doing exercises and playing catch. Cody Bellinger did shoulder exercises with trainer Neal Rampe on the field and now playing catch with Jose Vizcaino testing right shoulder. #Dodgers — David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) May 5, 2019 He later took some batting practice, which is somewhat rare on Sunday since it is not usually mandatory for players to take batting practice on Sundays. Regardless of all of that, it appears the Dodgers decided to keep him on the bench at least to start the game. Dodgers hope to continue recent run of success against the Padres Since the 2011 season, the Dodgers are 101-51 against the Padres. They have won eight-straight season series and since the beginning of the 2017 season, the Dodgers are 29-11. At Petco Park, the Dodgers are 48-26 during this period. The only National League team with a better record at Petco Park since 2011 are the Washington Nationals at 19-10. As far as their other NL West division opponents, since 2011 the Dodgers are as follows: Dodgers to play nearly all of their games outside NL West until June 3rd After today’s game against the Padres, the Dodgers will play 22 out of the next 24 games outside of the NL West. They will conclude their season series against the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. They will play their first series against the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. And they will go to Tampa to play a two-game series against the Rays. The only NL West team they will play during that stretch is a two-game series at Dodger Stadium against the Padres next week. Also the Dodgers will have back-to-back weeks of a two-game series being played on Tuesday and Wednesday which means corresponding off-days on Mondays and Thursdays. With that in mind, there could be some adjusting to the rotation in order to keep the bullpen fresh.