PLAYER REVIEW: DREW MILLAS

Age on Opening Day 2026: 28

How acquired: Traded with Richard Guasch and Seth Shuman from Athletics for Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison, July 2021

MLB service time: 178 days

2025 salary: $760,000

Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2028, free agent in 2031

2025 stats: 18 G, 55 PA, 49 AB, 6 R, 15 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB, 0 CS, 4 BB, 7 SO, .306 AVG, .358 OBP, .449 SLG, .807 OPS, 129 OPS+, -2 DRS, 0.2 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR

Quotable: “I feel bad for him. He was really hitting well and catching well. It’s bad news.” – Miguel Cairo, after Drew Millas fractured and dislocated his finger Aug. 27

2025 analysis: Millas reported for spring training with a chance to earn his way onto the Opening Day roster as the Nationals’ No. 2 catcher, if he could beat out Riley Adams. That didn’t happen, because he proceeded to bat .056 (1-for-18) while committing three errors in Grapefruit League play. Adams, who was out of options anyway, retained his job while Millas reported to Triple-A.

His performance in Rochester was decent: a .680 OPS with six doubles, three triples, four homers and 25 RBIs in 52 games during the season’s first two months. But he wasn’t going to get a promotion unless something went wrong at the big league level. Which happened June 23 when Keibert Ruiz was struck in the head by a foul ball in the dugout in San Diego and was diagnosed with a concussion.

Millas spent most of the next two months on the major league roster, serving as Adams’ backup. There weren’t a ton of opportunities, but he hit well when given the chance to play, and showed off his contact skills and surprising speed for a catcher. He was less effective behind the plate, though, not exactly living up to his reputation as an above-average defender.

Then, Millas’ season came an abrupt and unfortunate end when he was struck by Austin Wells’ bat Aug. 27 at Yankee Stadium and suffered a fractured and dislocated left index finger. He spent the final month watching from the dugout, unable to return healthy before season’s end.

2026 outlook: Do we know much more about Millas at this point than we did a year ago? There’s a decent argument that we don’t.

He has still played only 49 major league games, taking only 150 plate appearances. He has managed in that time to produce a solid .276/.340/.396 slash line, but it’s still far too small a sample to draw any real conclusions about his long-term ability to hit at the highest level.

The encouraging signs: Millas doesn’t chase outside the zone much (17.4 percent) and he doesn’t swing and miss much (19.4 percent). He has hit fastballs at an eye-popping .406 clip. The discouraging signs: He doesn’t hit the ball hard (23.3 percent) or in the air (launch angle 8.5 percent) enough. In a best-case scenario, he might hit for a decent average but draw few walks and hit for minimal power.

The larger concern is his work behind the plate. Despite his reputation as a good defensive catcher, he hasn’t shown it much at the big league level. Though his pop time (1.89 seconds) was good, his blocking and pitch framing were average to below-average. And he rushed a bunch of throws, committing four errors in only 16 major league games this season.

The Nationals have plenty of questions at the catching position entering the winter. First and foremost, they have to figure out if Ruiz is going to be able to return from his concussion and be a productive player. Then they have to figure out if they’re going to bring back Adams, who is arbitration-eligible and still out of options. Then they have to figure out how Millas fits into the discussion. Worst-case, he’ll head back to Rochester and stand ready if needed. But for him to get a real shot in the majors, he’ll need to show something more himself and hope for a real opening that provides a real opportunity at last.