One of the biggest competitions we will see this spring is behind the plate. Top prospect and new Nat Harry Ford will be battling it out against Keibert Ruiz at camp. We will see who comes out on top, but for my sanity, I really hope it is Harry Ford. It would be the best outcome for Ford to win the job because he has more upside.
Keibert Ruiz has gotten chance after chance in his four plus seasons with the Nationals. However, he has never been able to put it together and has been regressing over
the past couple of years. The bat first catcher is only hitting .235 with a .610 OPS over the last two seasons. When you combine that with awful defense, you get one of the worst regulars in baseball.
If it weren’t for his contract extension, Ruiz would probably have been non-tendered or DFA’d by now. However, he has that contract, so he is going to be on the team. His contract is not big enough to just promise him a starting role despite poor production. Ruiz is only making $5.375 million this year.
Meanwhile, Ford has proven everything he has needed to in the minors. He hit .283 with an .868 OPS in Triple-A last year. Ford also showed increased power production and slightly improved defense. The only reason he did not see more time in the MLB was because of how good Cal Raleigh is. In other organizations, Ford would have been a starter for at least part of last season.
Ford is 23 years old with four full seasons in the minor leagues now. The Mariners brought him along slowly and developed him nicely. Now, it is time for the Nats to reap the rewards and unleash him. If Ruiz and Ford are playing at the same level this spring, the tie should go to Ford not Ruiz.
We have seen Ruiz get the benefit of the doubt for so many years now. He has lost that right, and Harry Ford now has the title of catcher of the future in DC. Ford has a level of athleticism and plate discipline Ruiz could only dream of. We saw some of that plate discipline yesterday when Ford walked and got an RBI base hit.
The whole reason the Mariners traded Ford was because they knew he was basically big league ready but they did not have regular playing time for him. Rather than letting him rot on the bench or AAA, they wanted to flip the asset while he still had value. For the Nats to see that and decide to roll with Ruiz over Ford would be silly. It would kind of defeat the point of the trade. Why trade for a blocked big league ready catcher if you are not going to play him?
This is not to say there should not be competition. If Ruiz looks way better than Ford, he should get the job. However, in this battle, the tie should go to Harry Ford. Back a few years ago, Ruiz was the high upside catcher the Nats were developing, now Ford is that guy. At this point, Ruiz’s development is a secondary concern to Ford’s.
There is going to be one twist in this competition though. At the start of March, Ford will be leaving camp to play for Great Britain. He is one of the stars of that team and is a co-captain. His parents are British, so this is a great honor for him, but it could give Ruiz an upper hand.
The time away from camp gives Ruiz more reps and opportunities. If he takes advantage of that, Ruiz could be in the driver’s seat of the competition. As a fan though, I am really rooting for Ford to win this competition.
The Nats catching situation has been such a disaster the last couple years, and Ruiz has been the biggest problem. He has not been the player Nats fans thought they were getting when he was a headliner in the Scherzer/Turner trade. Rather than establishing himself as a star, Ruiz has struggled on both sides of the ball and has not stayed healthy.
There is a reason trading for Ford was Paul Toboni’s first major move. He knew the catching situation was not good enough. Toboni bet on Ford to be the answer. If Harry Ford has a comparable or better spring than Ruiz, unleash the young man and give him his shot.
