Monday Quickie - Where are we with Keibert?

One of the great questions for the Nats going into the season was "what the hell are they going to do at catcher?" Keibert Ruiz had been terrible for several years and the pipeline for catcher was as weak as any position for the Nats, with newly acquired Harry Ford being the next hope that was unlikely to pay off. 

But something funny happened this year. Keibert got good (well at the plate) and the pipeline started filling up. 

On Keibert, arguably this version looks a LOT like what you'd have expected Keibert to be like back after 2021.  A low-power contact hitter who's worth was tied up in his average but who could keep that number up over .280.  While May flirted with something more, that was more likely just all his power concentrated into a single hot month, and this is more who he is. A guy at the mercy of BABIP but when you put that many balls in play, it still works out. 

Of course Ruiz has never been a great reciever and while his framing looks better now (honestly I bet more a function of the auto-strike zone taking some off of this skill for others) he's still at best just hanging on. But if a guy can hit .280 and hang on... well that's ok. 

The organizational depth is more interesting and Ruiz not crashing out this year means the Nats have a little time to check it out. Surprisingly enough (or not really if you know where they really sat as prospects), it's not Harry Ford (rapidly looking like a AAAA player - though still just 23 and a half) or Caleb Lomavita (struggling to hit in AA still under 24 I guess though it's more impressive for a guy getting MLB at bats like Ford) that we are looking at. 

Maxwell Romero Jr was a going nowhere C prospect drafted in the 9th round in 2022.  After getting the "you are too old for here" promotions up, he hit terribly in 2025 and it was probably expected 2026 would be his last year in the organization. But what he could always do was hit for power and this year he got his average up enough (over .240) to get the "ok you are old and we are interested" push to AAA where he's been hammering the ball. Granted it's been just a month of games but it's enough to make you take notice. 

Kevin Bazzell was a third round draft pick back in 2024 and last year wasn't kind to him. But he wasn't completely outmatched and things must move on for older college draftees, so he got the same "move up because" push as Romero. Starting in High A this year Bazzell did ok, which earned him a push to AA where in a few games he's been absolutely on fire. 

Now before you get excited these are very likely to be small sample size situations. Both these guys are older given their level or Lomavita than Ford (Romero over 25 and Bazzell basically Ford's age but just getting to AA).  Neither of these guys are top notch catcher either. In fact the Nats are basically full of guys that aren't really catchers, but are there because they can hack it.  So no there isn't a pipeline of depth here ready to be dealt for help in other positions. 

But given Ruiz is signed reasonably for a few more years, it seems like where we are is he gets to hold down the spot while all this shakes out. Likely shakes out to nothing, true, but the grimness that existed before getting Ford is now replaced with a sense of hope. Something could work out here, there's enough quantity.