Ford optioned to Triple-A, leaving Ruiz and Millas as Nats' catchers

The Nationals optioned Harry Ford and Abimelec Ortiz to Rochester and reassigned Riley Adams to minor-league camp, firming up their catching and first base positions

Photo by Saúl Martinez / NATS JOURNAL

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals optioned Harry Ford to Triple-A today, deciding the top catching prospect would be better served as the No. 1 catcher in Rochester than the No. 2 catcher in D.C. for now.

Ford was one of three players cut this afternoon, with first baseman Abimelec Ortiz also optioned to Triple-A and catcher Riley Adams reassigned to minor-league camp. The moves leave the Nats with 37 healthy players in major-league camp three days before they head north.

When they acquired Ford from the Mariners in December for reliever Jose A. Ferrer, the Nationals implicitly declared the 23-year-old as their new long-term answer behind the plate, likely to overtake Ruiz at some point. But there was never a guarantee he would get the job now, given his lack of big-league experience and Ruiz’s status as the only player in the organization on a long-term contract.

“I told Harry today when we sent him down, he’s going to be a huge part of our future,” manager Blake Butera said. “Him going to Triple-A right now has nothing to do with we don’t think highly of him anymore. No, that’s not it. And it’s not anything he did or didn’t do right or wrong.”

Ruiz, who was given an eight-year, $50 million deal by former general manager Mike Rizzo in March 2023, is coming off a disappointing season in which his OPS fell to .595 before a concussion sidelined him for three months. Healthy again, the 27-year-old has enjoyed a bounce-back spring and will be given the opportunity to re-establish himself as the club’s No. 1 catcher when the season begins next week.

“The biggest thing for Keibert coming into spring training was health, of course, just with the history he’s had,” Butera said. “But then on top of that: ‘Hey, man, go earn your job.’ And he has. He’s played really well.”

The question new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni had been facing: Would Ford – rated the organization’s third-best prospect and baseball’s 71st-best prospect by MLB Pipeline – make the team, either backing up or sharing time with Ruiz, or would he open the year in the minors and get more consistent playing time?

Ford has only eight games of big-league experience, all of them coming last September when the Mariners promoted him. Blocked by MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, his future with the organization was uncertain until the December trade.

He played in just seven Grapefruit League games, going 3-for-14 with a double and an RBI, sandwiched around a brief stint catching for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic, where he went 3-for-15 with a homer and two RBI in four games.

Had the Nationals put Ford on their Opening Day roster, they would not have had the opportunity to earn an extra draft pick through Major League Baseball’s Prospect Promotion Incentive system. The PPI system only applies when a prospect wins Rookie of the Year for the same team he makes his MLB debut with, so Ford was ineligible because he already played for Seattle. The Nats could still delay Ford’s free agency by keeping him in the minors roughly through the end of April, which would prevent him from accruing a full year of service time in 2026.

“We told him there is no timetable,” Butera said. “You don’t have to stay down there X amount of days before you’re allowed (to return). No, you go down there and you dominate and you force our hand, we will make sure you’re up there with us.”

The Nationals will now enter the season with Ruiz and Drew Millas as their major-league catchers. Millas has played in 49 games over the last three seasons, slashing .276/.340/.396, serving as a backup to either Ruiz or Adams. Adams, who has spent most of his 4 1/2 seasons with the organization in D.C., was dropped from the 40-man roster over the winter after agreeing to a split contract that would have paid him $1 million in the majors and will now pay him $500,000 in the minors.

The demotion of Ortiz also clears up the competition at first base, which now looks like a platoon between Luis Garcia Jr. (who will also play second base some days) and Andres Chaparro.

Ortiz, one of five prospects acquired from the Rangers in this winter’s MacKenzie Gore trade, went just 3-for-22 with a double this spring, facing long odds of making the club. The 24-year-old has yet to appear in the majors but should be the starting first baseman in Rochester with an opportunity for promotion during the season.

Here are tonight’s lineups …

MIAMI MARLINS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: MLB.com (Marlins feed)
Weather: Chance of rain, 66 degrees, wind 14 mph in from center

MARLINS
RF Kyle Stowers
2B Xavier Edwards
DH Agustin Ramirez
C Liam Hicks
3B Connor Norby
LF Heriberto Hernandez
1B Griffin Conine
CF Esteury Ruiz
SS Jesus Bastidas

LHP Braxton Garrett

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
CF Jacob Young
DH Daylen Lile
1B Luis García Jr.
3B Brady House
SS CJ Abrams
C Drew Millas
RF Dylan Crews
2B Nasim Nuñez

RHP Zack Littell

UPDATE: Yeah, never mind. Tonight’s game has been canceled due to rain. It will not be made up. Zack Littell will go ahead and start Thursday’s game against the Cardinals now, which will probably bump Josiah Gray to a minor-league game instead.