One of the biggest competitions we’ll see this spring will take place behind the plate. Top prospect and new Nat Harry Ford will face Keibert Ruiz during camp. We’ll see who comes out on top, but for my sanity I really hope it’s Harry Ford. It would be the best outcome for Ford to win the job as he has more chances.
Keibert Ruiz had opportunity after opportunity in his four seasons with the Nationals. However, he was never able to pull it off and has declined in recent years. The first catcher of the bat is alone hit .235 with a .610 OPS over the past two seasons. When you combine that with terrible defense, you get one of the worst regulars in baseball.
Without his contract extension, Ruiz probably wouldn’t have been tendered or DFA by now. However, he has that contract, so he will be on the team. His contract is not big enough to simply promise him a starting role despite the poor production. Ruiz is only making $5.375 million this year.
Meanwhile, Ford has proven all he needs to be in the minors. He hit .283 with an .868 OPS in Triple-A last year. Ford also showed increased energy production and slightly improved defense. The only reason he didn’t see more time in the MLB was because of how good Cal Raleigh is. In other organizations, Ford would have been a starter for at least part of last season.
Ford is 23 years old and has now played four full seasons in the minor leagues. The Mariners brought him along slowly and developed him nicely. Now it’s time for the Nats to reap the rewards and release him. If Ruiz and Ford play at the same level this spring, the tie should go to Ford and not Ruiz.
We’ve seen Ruiz get the benefit of the doubt for years. He has lost that right and Harry Ford now has the title of catcher of the future in DC. Ford has a level of athleticism and plate discipline that Ruiz could only dream of. We saw some of that plate discipline yesterday when Ford walked and got an RBI single.
The whole reason the Mariners traded Ford was because they knew he was basically ready for the big leagues, but they didn’t have any regular playing time for him. Rather than let him rot on the bench or AAA, they wanted to turn around the asset while he still had value. It would be foolish for the Nats to see that and decide to take Ruiz over Ford. It would sort of undermine the purpose of the trade. Why trade for a blocked big league catcher if you’re not going to play him?
This does not mean that there should be no competition. If Ruiz looks much better than Ford, he should get the job. However, in this battle the tie should go to Harry Ford. A few years ago Ruiz was the high upside catcher the Nats were developing, now Ford is that guy. At this point, Ruiz’s development is a secondary concern to Ford’s.
However, there will be one twist in this competition. At the beginning of March, Ford will leave camp to play for Great Britain. He is one of the stars of that team and is co-captain. His parents are British, so this is a great honor for him, but it could give Ruiz the upper hand.
The time away from camp gives Ruiz more reps and opportunities. If he takes advantage of this, Ruiz could be in the driver’s seat of the competition. But as a fan, I’m really in favor of Ford winning this contest.
The Nats’ catching situation has been such a disaster in recent years, and Ruiz has been the biggest problem. He hasn’t been the player Nats fans thought they were getting when he headlined the Scherzer/Turner trade. Instead of establishing himself as a star, Ruiz has struggled on both sides of the ball and hasn’t stayed healthy.
There’s a reason why trading Ford was Paul Toboni’s first big move. He knew the catching situation wasn’t good enough. Toboni gambled that Ford would be the answer. If Harry Ford has a similar or better spring than Ruiz, let the young man go and give him his chance.
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