Trio of young catchers now gets chance to play

PHILADELPHIA – Keibert Ruiz’s first full big league season has likely come to an unfortunate end. But while everyone certainly would have liked to see him finish the year out on the active roster, to be honest, there wasn’t really anything else he needed to prove.

The Nationals know Ruiz can hit for contact. They know he has emerging power. They know he is developing into a more aggressive game planner and pitch caller. They know he’s got one of the best arms in baseball behind the plate. And they know he’s tough and durable, wanting to play as often as possible at the most physically demanding position in the sport.

What the Nats don’t know at this point is the identity of their No. 2 catcher heading into 2023.

They’ve alternated between Riley Adams and Tres Barrera this season, neither one of them showing enough consistency to seize the job on a permanent basis. And now they can add Israel Pineda to the mix after calling up the 22-year-old only one week after he was promoted from Double-A Harrisburg to Triple-A Rochester.

Manager Davey Martinez intends to get a good look at all three over the season’s final 23 games.

“I think I’m going to try to split them up,” Martinez said. “Being in the position we’re in, I want to see a lot of these guys play, (Pineda) being one of them. We’ll give him some opportunities to catch, maybe two or three times a week, just to see what he can do.”

With Ruiz appearing to be the franchise’s long-term solution at catcher – Martinez has repeatedly referred to him as a “future All-Star” this season – it’s perhaps not urgent to identify a primary backup. But the Nationals would ideally like to see someone from this group step up and show he’s capable of stepping in and producing at a reasonable level while the regular starter is sidelined.

Adams was supposed to be the guy when the season began, but the 26-year-old has underachieved to date this season. In 33 games totaling 99 plate appearances, he’s batting just .186 with three homers, six RBIs and a .561 OPS. He has thrown out only four of 20 basestealers, a 20 percent success rate that’s below the MLB average.

Adams did deliver a double off the top of the right field wall during Friday night’s game against the Phillies, but with a chance to extend the game with two on and two out in the top of the ninth, he grounded to second to seal the Nats’ 5-3 loss.

“At the end of the day, I just want to help my team win, and I feel like I can do that both offensively and behind the plate catching,” Adams said. “I’m just trying to do it as many ways as possible to help the team. I came up a little bit short tonight. Had some pitches I thought I could’ve done some damage on that I wasn’t able to put the best swing on. I’m looking forward to future times of getting that opportunity, cause I know I won’t miss that chance.”

Barrera had his opportunity during the summer to establish himself as the No. 2 catcher, but the 27-year-old has hit only .182 with one double, four RBIs and a .441 OPS in 14 games to date.

Pineda may have the most offensive upside of anyone in the mix, having totaled 16 homers, 71 RBIs and a .783 OPS across 400 minor league plate appearances this season. But he’s incredibly inexperienced, having spent the bulk of the season at Single-A Wilmington before earning three promotions that finally brought him to a major league clubhouse Friday for the first time.

“I don’t think that,” Pineda said when asked if he expected this year to progress as rapidly as it has. “I just play baseball. I just do my job through the system, and I’m here right now. So I feel really happy with that.”