Given opportunity to catch, Severino steps up and produces

MIAMI - Pedro Severino made his major league debut nearly two years ago, so this isn't anything new for him. The young Nationals catcher, though, hasn't been given a whole lot of opportunities to play at this level (with the notable exception of his two starts in last year's National League Division Series after Wilson Ramos tore his ACL).

No matter what, Severino has tried to make himself ready if and when the call comes.

"They gave me opportunity last year, and in 2015 I (didn't) play a lot for some reason," he said. "But last year I played a lot and showed what I got, I think, what I can do."

The call came for Severino on Tuesday night at Marlins Park, and the 24-year-old gave the Nationals reason again to give him more opportunities. At the plate, he went 2-for-4 with an RBI single. Behind the plate, he helped guide Stephen Strasburg and three relievers through a 2-1 victory over the Marlins.

"Sevy called a great game," manager Dusty Baker said. "He did a great job receiving throughout the game. He gives a good, low target, blocks balls in the dirt. The game ball should go, I think, to Sevy and to Strasburg."

Strasburg and Severino had worked together in spring training before, but this was the first time they'd been paired up in a regular season game. That can be an awkward situation for an experienced pitcher, but Strasburg appreciated how his batterymate handled the situation.

"Sevy's young and stuff, and I think it's amazing how time flies," Strasburg said. "I'm kind of the veteran, so I have to show him a little bit what I want to do. But you can always appreciate his energy and stuff back there. I thought he called a great game. He works really hard."

With Matt Wieters nursing a stiff back and having started only one of the Nationals' last five games, Baker has needed to rely on his catching depth. Jose Lobaton started three of those games in Wieters' absence, and Baker said the veteran backup will start again tonight, but Lobaton's offensive production has become almost nonexistent.

In his last 13 games dating to July 30, Lobaton is batting .091 (3-for-33) with zero extra-base hits, zero RBIs and a .301 OPS. For the season, he's batting .148 with a .485 OPS that is the lowest among all major leaguers with at least 140 plate appearances.

Despite pedestrian offensive numbers in the minors - a .623 OPS this season at Triple-A Syracuse, a .633 OPS over his full seven-year minor league career - Severino has hit in his limited opportunities at the big league level. In 53 regular season plate appearances for the Nationals over the last three seasons, he owns a .319 batting average, .396 on-base percentage and .928 OPS. Even when factoring in his 1-for-10 showing in the NLDS, he's still batting .281 as a big leaguer with a .746 OPS.

"I've been watching Sevy for a couple years," Baker said. "He had a great chance to make this club out of spring training, except that he had a bad arm at the time. But he's healthy. He brings a lot of energy to the team and the field. ... It's a great luxury to have, especially in September when we need the bodies."

Severino will remain on the active roster for the season's final month. Whether he's able to turn that into a spot on the postseason roster remains to be seen.

"They know me, and they know what I can do on the field," he said. "So I tell Dusty, when they need me, I'll be right there and ready to play."