Baker confirms Pedro Severino will start at catcher in NLDS Game 1

Nationals manager Dusty Baker set his battery for Game 1 of the National League Division Series with the announcement today that rookie Pedro Severino will catch Max Scherzer in Friday's opener.

"OK, No. 1, Severino is catching tomorrow," Baker said "He's pretty good against left-handed pitchers. I don't think he's seen one quite like this in (Clayton) Kershaw before. He's worked with our guys and (Jose) Lobaton is a little bit injured, and that's one reason why he's not catching tomorrow."

Scherzer had Severino catch his start in Arizona on Aug. 3. Severino has played in eight games since Sept. 17, but with catcher Wilson Ramos out for the season with a torn ACL, his right-handed bat becomes much more critical.

Despite that limited time with Severino, Scherzer developed a good rapport with the 23-year-old backstop, and was impressed with the maturity he displayed in just a handful of games.

"In most scenarios, having a rookie catcher behind the plate, you probably have pause for concern of not being in sync with him," Scherzer said. "But Severino is completely different.

"First off, he's way more mature and understands the game way further than any rookie catcher I've been around. He gets it."

Severino has caught for every Nationals starter who could be projected to start in the NLDS. In addition to Scherzer, he caught Aug. 13 and 18 for Reynaldo Lopez, Sept. 17 for Gio Gonzalez, Sept. 29 for Joe Ross and Oct. 1 for Tanner Roark.

"He really understands the game and he does a great job, in between my starts, of understanding everything that goes into calling the game and understanding what numbers I'm looking at, understanding my sequences, understanding the signs that are going down," Scherzer said. "When I have pitched to him, I pitched to him in Arizona (and) it felt very comfortable throwing some of those.

"I was actually excited to throw to him because he's actually really good back there as a catch-and-throw catcher."

Severino said Wednesday he would not be nervous if Baker chose him for the Game 1 starting lineup.

"No, not really," Severino said. "Never nervous for me because that's all I know. All of my life, that's how I do it. So I don't keep pressure on myself and my job. That's what I think. I don't have that pressure because it is the playoffs."

Baker admitted the club is concerned with Lobaton and lingering ankle soreness. The Nationals brought in catcher Jhonatan Solano today to work with the team and go through batting practice. Solano returned to the Nationals this season, hitting .225 in 52 games at Triple-A Syracuse. He was with the Marlins last season, but spent nine previous seasons in the Nationals organization. Solano is currently not on the 40-man roster, so another move would have to be made if Solano needed to be activated.

"Solano is here actually in case something happens to Lobaton or Severino," Baker said. "We just didn't feel that if something happened to those two guys, (Spencer) Kieboom is up here first, but Solano has more experience than Kieboom."

Baker said the Nationals will have a taxi squad working out in Woodbridge, Va., this week. That squad will include Solano. Those players will work out at high Single-A Potomac's Pfitzner Stadium due to the possibility of issues with Hurricane Matthew in the central Florida area this weekend. Because of the hurricane, the Nationals have canceled the remainder of their fall instructional league workouts in Viera, Fla.