Charles Leclaire-Imagn Photographs
I’ll break all this down. You’re going to get your thousand phrases. However generally a graph does a lot of the give you the results you want, so let’s simply get to it. Right here’s the WAR put up by the catchers of each crew to date this season:
Wait, sorry. Improper graph. That one solely has 29 groups. My mistake. Let me throw the Nationals on there actual fast:
So yeah. That modifications issues a bit. What the hell is going on in Washington DC? I’m unsure any of the million methods you would reply that query would supply excellent news, however this catcher scenario is its personal form of ugly.
Nationals backstops have put up -1.7 WAR this season, a full 1.5 worse than the Angels in twenty ninth place. These should not replacement-level killers. These are killers who dwell far beneath the earth’s floor, digging tunnels, crushing folks with rocks, blowing them up — wait, I assume I’m simply describing Dig Dug, however you get the purpose. Washington’s catchers rank twenty ninth in wRC+ and thirtieth in baserunning and general offense. They rank Twenty eighth in catcher ERA. Based on Statcast, they rank thirtieth in blocking, thirtieth in framing, and – hey, take a look at that! – Thirteenth in caught stealing above common. So it’s not all unhealthy.
We’ve crew positional splits going again to 2002, and over that interval, the 2009 Pirates and 2019 Rangers are the worst groups on file, with -3.1 WAR every. The Nationals catchers are on tempo for -3.8 WAR. They’re on tempo to interrupt the file earlier than Labor Day! Over our 24-season pattern, the Nationals’ -1.7 catcher WAR has already sunk to them to the 14th-worst whole ever recorded. They wanted simply 75 video games to place up extra detrimental worth than the opposite 707 groups on the listing. They dropped three spots simply final evening! That is really execrable stuff. So let’s ask once more, what the hell is going on behind the plate in DC? Right here’s the underside of the catcher leaderboard. Be aware that not like the numbers you’ve seen to date, the desk under reveals whole WAR accrued by catchers, not simply WAR accrued whereas enjoying catcher:
2025 Catcher WAR (Non-)Leaderboard
Effectively, that’s one solution to find yourself on the backside of the listing. Solely two gamers have caught a recreation for the Nationals this season, they usually rank second- and third-to-last in WAR. Keibert Ruiz has not been the worst offensive catcher in baseball, however as a result of he ranks sixth in plate appearances, he has accrued essentially the most detrimental offensive worth. His protection grades out because the worst amongst all catchers in keeping with Statcast’s fielding run worth, and fourth worst in keeping with DRS. Riley Adams is true behind him, because of a -19 wRC+ and his personal defensive struggles. Up to now this season, 28 totally different particular person catchers have hit extra house runs than the Nationals have as a crew on the catcher place.
As for the opposite gamers on the listing, Jacob Stallings was so unhealthy that he was launched by the Rockies. Endy Rodríguez and Ben Rortvedt have additionally misplaced their respective jobs. Maverick Handley was simply filling in and is again in Norfolk now that Gary Sánchez has returned from a wrist harm. You see the place I’m going right here. Nearly everybody on this listing has been unhealthy over a tiny pattern. A few of them had been solely pressed into service due to an harm within the first place. The one gamers on this listing who’re nonetheless receiving common enjoying time are Ruiz and the WAR-defying Martín Maldonado, whom we should always most likely be calling The Massive Intangible. Enjoying this badly will value you your spot – even over a small pattern, even in Colorado – however not in Washington.
The Nationals got here into the season ranked twenty seventh at catcher in our Positional Energy Rankings, with a projected 1.5 WAR. They’ve already raced previous that whole in the wrong way, nevertheless it’s not like this state of affairs was unforeseeable, and even unprecedented. Right here’s what Leo Morgenstern wrote about Ruiz on the time: “Right here’s the excellent news: Our projections assume Ruiz can hit like he did in 2023 and catch like he did in 2024. It isn’t a horny profile, nevertheless it’s sufficient to advantage a beginning job on the large league stage.”
As a substitute, Ruiz is hitting like he did in 2024, and his protection metrics have regressed to proper between the numbers he put up in 2023 and 2024. That’s a bummer, nevertheless it’s definitely not a shock. Adams is experiencing some unhealthy batted ball luck – he’s most likely not going to maintain working a .103 BABIP – however he got here into the season with a profession 89 wRC+, and his protection has graded out roughly the identical because it did in earlier seasons. In different phrases, Ruiz and Adams are to date behind their projections as a result of the projections assumed they’d regress to the imply, however they’ve as an alternative gotten even worse. Ruiz is at the moment on tempo to place up -2.0 WAR. Based on our database, that may be the Thirteenth-worst catcher season in main league historical past. And by some means, although he’s solely gotten into 20 video games, Adams is on tempo for the Twenty eighth-worst of all-time.
Sadly, for as far under substitute stage as Washington’s catchers have been, there aren’t any apparent replacements obtainable. When Eric Longenhagen ranked the Nationals prime 32 prospects final Might, Drew Miles was the one catcher who made the listing. He ranked seventh with a Future Worth of 45, however he’s at the moment working a 75 wRC+ in Triple-A Rochester. His 28.6% hard-hit charge places him in simply the eighth percentile (amongst Triple-A gamers with a minimum of 150 PAs). As an entire, Washington’s catchers all through the minors are working a 101 wRC+, which ranks twenty fifth. They solely have one catcher above Single-A with a wRC+ above 75. Millas will most likely be up in some unspecified time in the future. He’s had cups of espresso in every of the final two seasons, and even after his awful begin, the projection techniques see him as higher than each Ruiz and Adams proper now.
The larger downside is that there isn’t all that a lot cause for the Nationals to alter course. Ruiz is within the third 12 months of an eight-year deal (with membership choices for 2 extra years past that). The crew is tied to him, and publicly a minimum of, nonetheless considers him a part of the thrilling younger core that’s now beginning to coalesce. James Wooden, MacKenzie Goreand CJ Abrams are thriving. Luis García Jr. simply put up a three-win season and is working good underlying numbers regardless of iffy outcomes. Dylan Crews continues to be ready for his personal topline numbers to catch as much as his spectacular peripherals. Brady Home simply arrived in Washington. However the Nationals are nonetheless nowhere close to being a aggressive crew. The supporting items aren’t there. The pitching employees isn’t there. No matter Dave Martinez’s latest feedback in assist of his teaching employees, the crew additionally ranks at or close to the underside in each protection and baserunning.
The Nationals began the season with a 3% likelihood of constructing the playoffs, they usually’re now right down to 0.1%. They’re nonetheless performing like they don’t count on to compete, largely limiting their acquisitions to one-year offers for veterans they will flip on the deadline. Possibly common supervisor Mike Rizzo will determine it’s time to signal some gamers and make a run at it after the season ends, however this 12 months is already misplaced. The most effective the crew can hope for on the catcher place proper now’s snagging an underperforming veteran on the waiver wire to take Adams’ place and Millas performing solidly in a call-up. And if Ruiz’s efficiency doesn’t flip round, they’re nearly sure to set a very ignominious file.
