The Washington Nationals suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon, and the team will head back to the Nation's Capital with their tails tucked between their legs. During the series in the Bronx, the Nationals were completely outclassed, albeit against one of the best teams in baseball, and yet somehow the news ended up getting worse.
One of the worst parts of the sweep at the hands of the Yankees was the fact that one of their two catchers, who have been performing much better recently, are now going to be out for the foreseeable future. Since Keibert Ruiz has been out for the last few months with ongoing concussion issues, Drew Millas and Riley Adams have been holding down the fort behind the plate, and have found much more success than the team's catching tandem did earlier this season.
But now, the Nationals are set to be without Drew Millas, who was diagnosed with a fracture and dislocation of his second left finger after he was hit by the bat of Yankees' catcher Austin Wells during Wednesday's game. Riley Adams will likely take over even more of the playing time he is getting currently, and it is unclear how long Millas will be out for, but it doesn't figure to be a short time.
Truth be told, with less than 30 games left in the regular season, there is a good chance that Millas is done for the season, but this is a good opportunity for Adams to prove that he belongs in the organization beyond this season. In place of Millas, the Nationals are set to promote CJ Stubbs from AAA Rochester, although his numbers aren't exactly sure to inspire much hope.
In 24 games with the Red Wings this season, Stubbs has posted a .161/.312/.290 slash line, good for a .602 OPS, to go along with a homer and 5 RBIs. He was signed as a free agent this offseason after being a former prospect with the Houston Astros, and will now get the opportunity to make his big league debut at 28-years-old.
Quite frankly, for many Nationals fans, this season can't come to an end fast enough, but at least for Stubbs and his family they will have a moment that they will never forget with him set to get his first crack. I would also keep an eye for future transactions as well to see if the Nationals look to give any other catcher a shot in September, but we will have to wait and see for now.
What do you think of CJ Stubbs getting his first big league opportunity? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.