It’s no secret that the catcher position was an absolute travesty for the Washington Nationals in 2025. Led by Keibert Ruiz, they were easily the worst unit in baseball for half the season, posting a nightmareish
-1.2 fWAR through June 30th (2nd worst in the league was only at -0.5). In fact, it was so bad that they were actually on pace to break the record for the worst fWAR by a catching unit in baseball history.
After Ruiz went down with his first of several head injuries, they actually improved as a unit, as with Riley Adams and Drew Millas splitting the reps, they posted the 14th-best fWAR among catching units in baseball from July 1st to August 27th. After Millas suffered a season-ending finger injury on August 27th, however, it all went downhill again, as with Riley Adams getting the majority of the reps, they once again were the worst unit in the league, posting a -1.0 fWAR from August 28th to the end of the season.
So, where do the Nats go from here regarding the catcher position? They are financially tied to Keibert Ruiz until 2030, but the mix of poor performance, injuries, and the man who extended him being out of the organization leaves his future murky. The current backups, Riley Adams and Drew Millas, each excel in different areas, but their weaknesses lead me to believe they won’t be much more than backups in their careers. Down on the farm, Caleb Lomavita showed promise at High-A and in his brief time at Double-A, but he needs to work on his approach at the plate and tapping into his power more consistently.
If the Nationals choose to look externally for catching options, they have a variety of interesting options. The free agent catching class (excluding those with options, as we don’t know yet if they’ll be available) is led at the top by JT Realmuto, long-time Phillies backstop and once highly coveted by Mike Rizzo and his staff. Realmuto has been one of the most consistent catchers in the sport for years, posting at least 2 fWAR in 9 consecutive full seasons, but dipped below average offensively this season for the first time since his rookie year, and he will be 35 in 2026.
The next best option after Realmuto in the free agent catcher class is Gary Sanchez, once a big-name youngster who has become more of a journeyman now in his career. Sanchez played only 30 games for the Orioles in 2025 due to injury, 22 behind the dish, and performed roughly how you would expect, posting a 100 wRC+ and hitting 5 home runs while playing subpar defense behind the dish. The appeal of a Sanchez signing is that with the new ABS system coming in 2026, which will allow 2 challenges per game to teams on balls and strikes, his defense will become less of an issue, and his bat will make him a net positive for the club.
The problem, however, is that Sanchez is not a bad framer, grading roughly league average usually; his problem is blocking, where he consistently grades out very poorly. Sanchez would provide the Nats with a stronger bat than they’ve had behind the dish in years, but his defense would likely hurt them just as much as his bat helps.
Another free agent catcher who could be an interesting stopgap option for the Nats is Victor Caratini, who is in many ways the antithesis of a ballplayer to Gary Sanchez. While Sanchez excels with his power and decent framing and struggles with consistent contact and blocking, Caratini’s strong suits are his bat-to-ball skills and blocking, while he struggles with framing. Not many catchers will benefit from the ABS system more than Caratini, who ranked in the 38th percentile in Framing Runs Above Average in just 49 games caught in 2025. The bat should play, as he’s posted a 113 and 104 wRC+ the last 2 seasons. The question will be his ability to catch 100+ games, and if he’d need to share the role with another catcher similar to the Yan Gomes/Kurt Suzuki tandem of old.
I would also like the Nationals to keep their eyes on the trade block for available catchers, although it is rather rare that teams are just giving away young and controllable catching. The Nats’ best chance to strike is with a contending team undergoing a roster crunch to their 40-man and cannot afford to add a young backstop to it. The Nats give up some younger prospects of their own, and in exchange get a possible solution at a block hole of a position for them. They should also look at catching prospects on teams that already have their long-term catcher, such as Dalton Rushing from the Dodgers or Harry Ford from the Mariners.
There are a few more viable catching options on the market, but none that would be much of an upgrade over the Nationals’ in-house options. While building the catcher position back up to being at least a league-average unit year after year will take time, there are options out there to at least improve the short-term outlook of the position. Personally, my preference would be signing one of the 3 free agent options listed above, with Caratini being my favorite of the trio due to his strong bat and chance to improve defensively.
Backing him up, I would like it to be Drew Millas, as he is the strongest defender of the current Nationals catchers and has shown some ability with the bat as well. Riley Adams should get the majority of the reps in Triple-A until Caleb Lomavita is ready for a promotion, and Keibert Ruiz, health permitting, should spend a season at Triple-A finding himself and his swing, as he has just continued to decline year after year. Ruiz is out of options and would need to pass through waivers to go to the minors, but that should not be a problem, as the odds of a team claiming Ruiz and taking on his contract are practically zero.
