Washington Nationals: Five X-Factors For The 2017 Season

Matt Wieters

It’s been a slow spring training for Wieters since he signed with the Washington Nationals after pitchers and catchers had already reported. Right now, he is clearly behind everyone else in his preparation for the season.

In eight games, Wieters is 4-for-23 and has struck out eight times. His eight K’s are tied with three other players for the ninth most on the team. While he only played in ten spring training games for the Orioles a season ago, he only had seven strikeouts.

Of course, Wieters is only a couple seasons removed from the Tommy John surgery that he had in 2014. But, if you go back to last season, the power seemed to come back. He had 17 home runs and had his first double-digit home run season since 2013 (22).

When you looked at the catcher market this offseason, Wieters was the best option available as a one-year stopgap until Pedro Severino is ready. He is the best upgrade because he can come close to the power numbers Wilson Ramos put up at the position last year before the ACL injury.

Of course, the Washington Nationals hope he can bring production to the lineup as well as be a good battery mate for the starting pitchers. This rotation is mostly full of veterans, but it will be interesting to see if the veteran catcher has a positive impact on the youngest pitcher in the starting five, Joe Ross.

Right now, there shouldn’t be panic about Wieters because he is another hitter that should bring some power to the bottom of the Nats order and throw out a good amount of baserunners on defense.