Washington Nationals: Who Is Catching Opening Day?
By Frank Ellis
What The Future Holds in DC Behind The Plate
The Nats have a lot of options at catcher, but what can Mike Rizzo and eventually Dusty Baker do to perfect these options and once again share some champagne in 2017?
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To start, I would not put it past-offseason magician Mike Rizzo to bring in another catching option.
It could be Ramos on a short incentive filled deal, it could be Wieters traveling down the parkway, it could be another sneaky trade, or Rizzo could keep the catching picture the same in DC. If he does keep it the same, Dusty has a lot of work to do this year. But, the pieces do fit, believe it or not.
In a perfect world, Norris goes back to hitting the way he did before 2016. Then it’s over and we have Severino/Lobaton fighting for a backup spot.
In a slightly more realistic view, he doesn’t go back to his All-Star performance and he will platoon with one of those two and play against all the lefties.
If Severino keeps his hot bat throughout the spring, expect him to be the one up against the righties. If he doesn’t, expect Lobi to take on the right-handed pitching.
Unfortunately, one of those two will likely not be on the 25-man roster and, in all honesty, the Nats could choose to give Severino a little more seasoning in Triple-A to start the year.
Personally, I would love to see Ramos back behind the plate, but I believe it will be a platoon of Norris and Lobaton to start the year.
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Whatever decisions are made, the Nats actually have a pretty solid catching core and, although all of Nationals Park will likely miss chanting “Willsssoon!” every game, it looks like it could end up being okay.