While remembering brother’s debut, Stubbs awaits his turn

C.J. Stubbs stood by his new locker in the Nationals clubhouse and greeted his new teammates and team staff. It was his first time in a major league clubhouse, so he had a lot to soak in and many new faces to meet.

The Nationals selected Stubbs’ contract from Triple-A Rochester yesterday to make him the backup catcher. He replaces Drew Millas, who landed on the 10-day injured list after having surgery to stabilize the fracture and repair the joint on his left index finger.

“I was definitely overwhelmed and shocked,” Stubbs said of when he heard the news. “I spent quite a few days in the minor leagues and got to the point where I wasn't sure if it was ever going to happen. And sometimes it doesn't happen the way you think it's going to happen, but however it does, I'm just so happy and humbled to be here.”

A 10th-round selection by the Astros in the 2019 MLB Draft out of the University of Southern California, the now 28-year-old spent the last six seasons in the minor leagues, joining the Nats organization in May 2024 after Houston released him.

While savoring the moment and anticipating his hoped-for major league debut in the coming days, Stubbs reflected on seeing his brother, current Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs, make his own big league debut with the Astros on May 28, 2019 in Houston.

“It's everything,” he said. “I got to go to my brother's debut and see how special that was for him, and it made me hungrier to want to be here someday. And yeah, it's like most people, it's everything.”

Of course, knowing how hungry Stubbs was to get to the majors, Rochester manager Matt LeCroy couldn’t pass up the opportunity to mess with his catcher, now seemingly a habit for the Triple-A skipper when he delivers promotion news.

“I had heard the news that Drew had hurt his finger. And so there was a little bit of buzz going around that someone might be going up,” Stubbs said. “I definitely didn't think it was going to be me, just because we also had another great catcher on the team, and I thought he might be getting the nod.

“And I was about to take batting practice off the machine in the cages, and LeCroy came up to me, he's like, 'Hey, stop hitting. Don't hit off the machine, you could get hurt.' I was like, 'What are you talking about I could get hurt? I'm hitting off the machine.' He was like, ‘You can't get hurt because you're going to the big leagues.' And it definitely put me in shock. I was at a loss for words and just very excited.”

The fun part was getting to make calls afterwards to share the news … at least when someone finally answered the phone.

“It's funny, I wasn't the one who made the call,” Stubbs said. “LeCroy brought me into his office and I didn't have my phone. He was the one that wanted to start calling people. So he started calling my brother, brother's not picking up. Started calling my mom, Mom's not picking up. Starts calling my dad. On the third try, my dad's like, 'Hello, who is this?' He was like, 'This is Matthew LeCroy, the manager for the Rochester Red Wings.' And my dad, I think, had an inkling right there. I could hear him start crying on the other side. He's like, 'Your son has something to tell you'. And I said, 'Hey, Dad.' He just started bursting into tears. I was like, 'I'm going to the big leagues.' And got me a little teary as well.”

Stubbs will get to see his family in person this weekend, as his parents, girlfriend, grandparents, girlfriend's parents and a family friend will be here to celebrate. And while he reflected on his journey to the majors, he realized he was actually very close because he was only an injury away.

“It's definitely a reality at the end of the day,” he said. “I just kind of kept my head down and working. And if that call came, it was going to come. But I never really realized how close it really was.”

A lot of that work came behind the plate. Stubbs threw out 29 percent of would-be basestealers last year between Double-A and Triple-A in both the Astros and Nationals systems. But in 22 games with the Red Wings this year, he has thrown out 15-of-39 (38.5 percent) of would-be basestealers.

“I've worked really hard on my catching the last three years. When I came into pro ball, I wasn't a very good one,” he said.

“Just my receiving, being able to take care of the ball when it's in the dirt and throwing guys out with just getting my arm a little stronger every day.”

He’s taken some coaching tips along the way of his minor league journey and developed into a strong defensive catcher.

“Just putting in the time,” Stubbs said. “I used to be with the Astros, and I put a lot of time in with them. And they told me a lot of new techniques that I struggled with, I struggled with. And over time, it just got a little bit better. And I've formed into a new guy that I wasn't three years ago. And this year, I started catching on two feet again and I found a way to do that. It's really worked out.”

Stubbs doesn’t know if or when his major league debut will happen in the coming days. Riley Adams figures to get most of the playing time at catcher and the Nats’ upcoming schedule will allow him to do so. But after six years in the minors, the new guy can wait a couple of more days.

“I have no idea,” Stubbs said when asked if he knew when he’ll be playing. “I'll be checking the lineup tomorrow, hoping I'm in there, though.”