With Keibert Ruiz on the IL, Nats have perfect opportunity to see what they have in Drew Millas? Why aren’t they taking it?
When Drew Millas was recalled to the big league club after Keibert Ruiz was placed on the IL after taking a foul ball to the head, it was perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Nationals to assess the future of the catcher position. The combination of Ruiz and Riley Adams has been the worst catching room in baseball, putting up the -1.6 fWAR, the worst of any team and on a historically bad pace.
Millas, while not tearing the cover off the ball in Triple A, posting a 78 wRC+, is at least a fresh face who also is a much better defender behind the dish than Ruiz or Adams. Yet here we are, days after his callup, and Riley Adams has caught every single game since.
Riley Adams has now played over 200 games across 5 years at the big league level, and has posted a 80 wRC+ and -1.4 fWAR in that time. It’s been especially bad for him in 2025, as he currently has a 14 wRC+ and -0.7 fWAR. Barring any major changes in approach to hitting or fielding that turn Adams into a positive major leaguer, it feels fair to say we just about know who Riley Adams is.
Drew Millas, on the other hand, we do not. In brief big league stints in both 2023 and 2024, Millas has been a positive force on the club, posting 0.3 fWAR both times thanks in big part to his great defense. Overall, he’s posted a 90 wRC+ and 0.6 fWAR across 32 big league games, production the Nats would kill for behind the plate this year. It’s been a struggle offensively in Rochester for Millas in 2025, but he’s proved in his last few years there that he can hit at that level, and numbers such as a .264 BABIP suggest he’s had some bad luck lately.
For a team is as dire need for a solution at the catcher position as the Nationals are, it boggles the mind they won’t give a chance to maybe the best catcher in the organization while he’s at the big league level. At worst, Millas’ bat is simply not MLB caliber and he returns to Rochester once Ruiz returns. At best, he proves he is not only the best defender, but best hitter of the catching trio and offers a future solution at catcher for the Nats. Most likely, he’s at least gonna be the best defender behind the dish Nats pitchers have had to work with all year and maybe shows some flashes offensively too. However you look at it, there are no significant disadvantages to just letting Millas loose and seeing what he’s got.