With the World Baseball Classic now officially in the rearview mirror, teams around Major League Baseball are now going to be in full swing with their players back in the fold preparing for the upcoming 2026 season. While the year as a whole might be a tough one for the Washington Nationals, the main appeal will be watching young players take their next steps.
Guys like James Wood, Dylan Crews, and CJ Abrams, among others, will be crucial to the team's success this season, and if their current struggles continue to plague them after spring training, it might be tough for the club to win many games. Nationals games as a whole might be hard to watch, but knowing the youngsters are going to be around when the team is ready to win would be a huge emotional lift for the fanbase.
One of those guys that is expected to be part of the team's next core of winning baseball is Harry Ford, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners this offseason for Jose A. Ferrer. He had been in camp playing okay before heading to the World Baseball Classic to play for Team Great Britain, where he hit well, but he got some news on Wednesday that probably came as a little bit of a surprise to him, as he missed his chance to impact a key roster battle.
He was optioned to AAA Rochester along with fellow offseason first baseman Abimelec Ortiz, which means he will not be part of the Nationals' Opening Day roster. Additionally, Riley Adams was reassigned to minor league camp, meaning that he also will not be part of the Opening Day roster.
As of now, that likely means that the team's duo to begin the season will be Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas, which is a mixture of expectation and optimism. WIth Ruiz, it appears we know what he is at this point, which is a below average hitter who has surprisingly looked solid at the plate with an improved approach in spring training.
Millas performed well to end last season in what was effectively his first extended look at being a catcher at the big league level, and his athleticism and baserunning makes him a more intriguing option between the two. While not seeing Ford early on likely makes sense, as his defense needs some work, it likely will not be super long before we get to see him in the majors.
Ruiz was likely always going to make the roster, especially with the duration and money remaining on his contract, but the fact that Millas made the roster over a guy in Adams who the previous regime looked at as a safety net shows a clear difference in the way this new front office is thinking. Harry Ford might very well be the future, but it appears he's not quite ready to be the present.
What do you think of the Nationals' decision to option Harry Ford down to the minors? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.