As most Nationals fans know by now, the team traded for top catching prospect Harry Ford. This is a huge move because Ford has a good chance of solving the Nationals long standing catcher problem. I wanted
to give Nationals fans a look at who Harry Ford is, both as a person and as a player.
Of course, the biggest reason the Nats acquired Ford is because of who he is as a player. MLB Pipeline has Ford as their 42nd ranked prospect in all of baseball. That is definitely on the high end of his range, but Ford is a consensus top 100 prospect. Baseball America is more bearish on him, but he still ranks 74th in their top 100.
So what makes Ford a top 100 prospect? Well, he has a bit of a unique tool kit, especially for a catcher. Ford’s stand out trait is his plate discipline. He has walked at least 14% of the time in all four of his full Minor League seasons. Last season, he only chased pitches out of the zone 16.57% of the time in AAA, which is an elite mark. Ford also manages to do this while not being overly passive, swinging at pitches in the zone at a 64% clip, which is just below the AAA average.
Ford’s ability to draw walks gives him a strong offensive floor, especially for a catcher. Interestingly, Ford will not be a liability once he is on the base paths. Most catchers are slow runners, but not Ford. Pipeline considers him a 60 grade runner and he has the potential to be a base stealing threat.
While he did not run as much in 2025, Ford stole at least 20 bases in his first three MILB seasons. He projects to steal double digit bags for the first few years of his career, before the rigors of catching slow him down. When I think of fast catchers, my mind goes to J.T. Realmuto, and hopefully Ford can be that good one day.
At the plate, the batting eye is his best trait, but he has a solid hit/power combination. Both the hit tool and the power project to be about average. With plate discipline being a plus tool, Ford has the potential to be an above average offensive producer.
Defensively, it is a bit of a mixed bag for Ford. That athleticism has always given him the chance to be a good defensive catcher. However, he is still a work in progress on that side of the ball. He has shown the ability to get better though. In 2023, he had an insane 20 passed balls. Ford did not have any passed balls in 2025, despite catching more innings. He is a solid thrower who does a good, but not elite job at controlling the running game.
The framing is a bit of a work in progress according to scouts though. It will be interesting to see how the value of framing is affected by the new ABS challenge system. I am also excited to see if new catching coach Bobby Wilson can help Ford defensively. Wilson did a good job improving Jonah Heim’s defense in Texas and hopefully he can do the same with Ford.
Harry Ford has been slowly but steadily working his way up the Minor Leagues over the years. He was the Mariners 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft, and like most high school catchers, Ford slowly climbed through the system. The Nats have a lot of high schoolers from that 2021 class now, with Ford joining James Wood, Daylen Lile and Brady House.
Harry Ford has played full seasons in Low-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. He has performed well in his 454 MILB games, hitting .266 with an .833 OPS. His Minor League on base percentage is .405. All of this is to say that Ford is MLB ready.
He made his debut at the end of last season after posting an .868 OPS in Triple-A. Given the Nats catching situation, he will probably be the starter right away. There is not much else for him to prove in the Minors. If it weren’t for the presence of Cal Raleigh, Ford would have been in the big leagues sooner.
Now that we have discussed Ford as a player, I want to talk about the person. When researching Ford, I constantly was seeing stuff about how great of a human being he is. Given how much Paul Toboni talks about winning with people, I wonder how big of a role that played.
In his scouting report for MLB Pipeline, he was praised for his leadership skills and work ethic. Leadership is a very important trait for a catcher and it seems to be something that Ford has in spades. He should be able to take command of this pitching staff, despite being just 22 years old, though he will turn 23 before the season.
One thing that stuck out to me was the Mariners post about him after he was traded. They mentioned his work on the field, as well as in the community. It was overall a very nice post. You do not usually see a player with six career at bats get that kind of love, so that tells you a lot about who Harry Ford is.
Mariners fans seem to really have a soft spot for the guy. Though most understand why he was dealt, they were gutted to see him go. This overall makeup gives me belief that Ford will be able to unlock all the potential he does have.
There are also a couple interesting facts I found about Ford. Both of his parents are actually from the UK. For that reason, Ford represented the UK at the last WBC and should be their starting catcher again this spring. Despite playing for the UK, Ford grew up in Georgia.
Another ironic fact is that Ford plays the saxophone. This is funny because the man he was traded for, Jose A. Ferrer also plays the sax. This must be the first trade in MLB history where both sides are getting a saxophone player.
This is a super exciting move for the Nats, despite giving up a talented reliever in Ferrer. Ford has a good chance of being the Nationals catcher of the future. We thought the same about Keibert Ruiz, but I have hope that this will be different. Ford has a very exciting set of tools and a good head on his shoulders.
Going to the Nats is probably very exciting for him as well. He was never going to have a chance to be the starting catcher in Seattle due to Cal Raleigh. Now he has a much clearer path to playing time and will be given a chance to develop at the MLB level.
For a second, I was worried the Nats would run back the same horrific catching room they had last year. However, that is not going to happen now that Ford is here. Harry Ford is MLB ready and should be playing a lot.
I wonder what this means for Keibert Ruiz. He has that long term contract, but his play and injury concerns are a real problem. Will he even be on the Opening Day roster now? The team tendered Riley Adams and has Drew Millas, who is solid. No team can carry four catchers, so I am interested to see what Paul Toboni does here.
Get excited Nats fans because Harry Ford is a very fun player. Yes, he has his flaws and is not a sure thing. However, he is an exciting player that will be in the MLB in 2026. The Nats have been starved for good catcher play, and Harry Ford could be the man to bring competence behind the plate back to DC.
