MIAMI – The situation was almost comical, until you realized how painful it also was and how upsetting it must have been for everyone associated with the Nationals who nearly ran out of catchers during Tuesday night’s 7-5 win over the Marlins.
Riley Adams had already been forced to leave the game after taking a foul ball off his groin in the bottom of the second. Now, seven innings later, Jorge Alfaro had the exact same thing happen to him, leaving the veteran stunned and trying to walk it off as interim manager Miguel Cairo rushed from the dugout to check on him.
Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas were already on the injured list. Adams was out of the game. What would the Nats have done if Alfaro had to depart as well?
Hey, Andres Chaparro, how about you try on a catcher’s mask and mitt and see how it goes.
Chaparro, a first baseman and designated hitter who has never caught as a professional ballplayer, did indeed don the bare minimum tools of ignorance to catch Mitchell Parker’s warm-up pitches prior to the bottom of the third Tuesday night while Alfaro put his gear back on after batting in the top of the inning. Chaparro didn’t exactly look comfortable back there, but he would’ve been the guy if the team needed an emergency catcher.
The good news: Alfaro was able to finish the game with no issues. And the preliminary report on Adams was encouraging, with Cairo saying postgame his current No. 1 catcher “was hit pretty good, but he’s fine.” Adams will likely get tonight off, with the hope he can return to the lineup for Thursday night’s series finale.
But Tuesday’s events did underscore just how tenuous the Nationals’ catching situation has become.
There was a point not too long ago when everyone was trying to figure out if they could spread at-bats around between three catchers: Ruiz (once he was cleared to return from the 7-day concussion IL), Adams (who has seen a dramatic increase in offensive production since taking over for the injured Ruiz) and Millas (who was batting .306 with an .807 OPS in limited playing time as Adams’ backup).
But then Millas fractured and dislocated his left index finger when it was struck by a bat Aug. 27 at Yankee Stadium, sending the 27-year-old to the 10-day IL for the rest of the season. The Nats initially promoted C.J. Stubbs from Triple-A Rochester to take Millas’ place, but the career minor leaguer was sent back down after one game, clearing a spot for the team to sign Alfaro (who hadn’t played in the majors in two years) to a major league deal.
The Nationals were going to get by with Adams and Alfaro, with perhaps a chance of activating Ruiz, who began a rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg last week. But then Ruiz took another foul ball off his facemask Thursday, experienced a recurrence of concussion symptoms and was pulled off the rehab assignment and flown to Miami to meet with team doctors.
That left Adams and Alfaro as the only remaining healthy catchers on the roster, until Adams went down Tuesday night, leaving it all on Alfaro’s broad shoulders.
If Adams indeed is going to be OK, the Nats can probably get away without making any more roster moves. Alfaro can catch tonight (and hopefully avoid injury), with Adams getting another 24 hours to recover before potentially starting Thursday night against the Marlins.
But if there’s any real concern Adams might need to miss more time, the Nationals would have little choice but to recall Stubbs from Triple-A and pair him with Alfaro behind the plate.
It doesn’t appear it will come to that. Then again, who would’ve ever thought the Nats were this close to putting Andres Chaparro behind the plate with two outs in the ninth inning of a two-run game?