The Washington Nationals continued their newfound winning ways on Tuesday evening against the Miami Marlins, emerging victorious by a score of 5-2. There were lots of bright spots from the victory, including starting pitcher Cade Cavalli, who earned his 2nd career big league victory after allowing just 4 hits and 2 earned runs in 5.0 innings of work, adding in 6 strikeouts while walking just 1 batter.
It was a much needed bounce back effort from Cavalli, who was absolutely decimated by the New York Yankees in the Bronx in his most previous start. Elsewhere, the Nationals got 2 more hits including a 2-run homer from James Wood, who crushed a high fastball to the opposite field for his 27th of the season and just his 3rd since the All-Star Break. Additionally, Wood struck out 2 more times as well, and he continues to trend in the wrong direction as he approaches MLB history.
However, some of the biggest news from the Nationals for the day came in the form of signing a new catcher, as the team continues to balance their backstop situation. After Keibert Ruiz went down with a concussion, the team had turned to Riley Adams as their primary catcher, and had Drew Millas as the backup to Adams for awhile as well. After Millas went down, CJ Stubbs was called up, but his tenure in the big leagues will be short lived with the arrival of their new catcher.
That new catcher comes in the form of Jorge Alfaro, a veteran slugging catcher who has bounced around a few clubs over the years. Alfaro came up with the Philadelphia Phillies back in 2016, and then was traded to the Miami Marlins as part of the JT Realmuto deal back in 2019. Since then, he has played for the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox, where he made his last appearance back in 2023.
The 32-year-old backstop has accounted for 2.5 bWAR in his 8-year big league career, and has also accumulated a .253/.302/.393 slash line to go with a .695 OPS in 496 career MLB games. Alfaro has never walked much in his big league career, owning just 72 career walks in 1,710 plate appearances, but does has showcased some legitimate power in previous years as well.
Alfaro was stuck behind a catching logjam as he spent this season with the AAA affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers, as he had no clear path to earn any playing time behind William Contreras, Danny Jansen, and top catching prospect Jeferson Quero, among others. He has never graded out great defensively, but should offer a lot more potential offensively than Stubbs would have as a backup catcher.
To make room for Alfaro on the big league roster and the 40-man roster, Stubbs was optioned back to AAA Rochester, while injured catcher Drew Millas was transferred to the 60-day IL. This will be the end of the season for Millas, who will look to get his body ready for Spring Training in 2026.
What do you think of the Nationals signing Jorge Alfaro? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.