Millas made the most of his opportunities in 2023

PROSPECT REVIEW: DREW MILLAS

Age on opening day 2024: 26

How acquired: Traded with Richard Guasch and Seth Shuman from Athletics for Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison and cash in July 2021; originally drafted in seventh round by Athletics in 2019 from Missouri State University

Ranking: No. 22 per MLB Pipeline, No. 28 per Baseball America

MLB debut: Aug. 28, 2023

Signing bonus: $170,000

2023 levels: Double-A Harrisburg, Triple-A Rochester and Washington Nationals

2023 stats: 83 G, 328 PA, 278 AB, 40 R, 81 H, 15 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 43 RBIs, 6 SB, 2 CS, 42 BB, 49 SO, .291 AVG, .390 OBP, .442 SLG, .833 OPS

Quotable: “Honestly, it was one of the weirdest nights of my life. I was so embarrassed before that first of all. Got a hanging curveball that I was looking for and hit it over the fence, and I just didn't know how to feel. Thankfully, Rut's OK, so it made everything better. But the homer itself, like I don't know if I could enjoy it because I thought Rut was down bad. I'm happy he's OK. And I'm happy I hit my homer, so it ended up working out OK.” – Drew Millas on hitting his first major league home run after hitting good friend Jackson Rutledge with an attempted throw to second in the right-hander’s major league debut

2023 analysis: Millas entered the Nationals system as an unproven catching prospect after the trade with the Athletics for Gomes and Harrison, one of the many sell-off moves made by the Nationals at the 2021 trade deadline.

At the time, he was a seventh-round pick from a mid-conference school – although considered one of the best catchers of the 2019 draft class – who suffered an elbow injury that summer and then missed out on the pandemic-canceled 2020 season.

But after hitting .255 with a .731 OPS, 12 doubles, one triple, three homers, 28 RBIs and 41 walks to 39 strikeouts in his first taste of minor league ball at High-A Lansing in Oakland’s system, he proved worthy enough for the Nats to want him included in the trade.

Millas hit .284 while walking nearly as often as he struck out in 27 games with High-A Wilmington to end the 2021 season. He then played 88 games across Single-A Fredericksburg, Wilmington and Harrisrbug in 2022, hitting .225 with a .690 OPS, 14 doubles, two triples, six homers and 36 RBIs. He would then go on to hit .305 with an .825 OPS in 15 Arizona Fall League Games.

Entering his age-25 season this year, Millas was ranked as the Nats’ No. 20 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, ahead of fellow catcher Israel Pineda, who although is two years younger got his first taste of the majors in 2022.

Millas started the season at Harrisburg, but the switch-hitter quickly showed he was already too advanced for Double-A. He slashed .342/.455/.537 with a .991 OPS, four doubles, four homers, 19 RBIs and a 1:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 25 games.

After a promotion to Rochester in late May, Millas proceeded to slash .270/.362/.403 with a .766 OPS, 11 doubles, three triples, three homers, 24 RBIs, four stolen bases and 26 walks in 58 games with the Red Wings.

The Nationals selected Millas’ contract on Aug. 28, making his major league debut in the ninth inning of a loss in Toronto. Over 11 games with the Nats, he went 8-for-28 (.286) with two doubles, a homer, six RBIs and four walks to five strikeouts. His time with the Nats included an eventful night on Sept. 13 in Pittsburgh, where he accidentally hit his good friend Jackson Rutledge with an attempted throw to second base during the right-hander’s major league debut and then hit his first big league home run later in the game.

Millas also proved to be solid behind the plate, only committing six errors and throwing out 27 percent of would-be basestealers across all three levels.

2024 outlook: The Nationals had long lacked depth at catcher before the 2021 trade deadline. When the decision to finally do a full sell-off and rebuild was finally made, Mike Rizzo and company wanted to build up the middle of the field with young talent, especially after addressing the catcher’s position with aging veterans for many years.

Millas is probably forgotten as the third catcher acquired before that deadline, with Keibert Ruiz (now the Nats’ catcher of the future) coming over with Josiah Gray in the blockbuster Max Scherzer-Trea Turner deal with the Dodgers and Riley Adams (now the Nats’ backup catcher of the future) coming over in a trade with the Blue Jays for Brad Hand.

Of course not as highly touted or advanced as either of the other two backstops, Millas has nevertheless impressed Nationals officials in his short time with the organization. He draws strong reviews for his blocking and receiving behind the plate (his fielding is graded as 60 on a 20-80 scale) and still displays an above average arm even after an elbow injury to start his professional career.

Offensively, he is considered an all-around stronger hitter from the left side of the plate, but has displayed good patience from both sides with his impressive walk rates.

Millas’ opportunities this year were aided by injuries to other catchers. Pineda dealt with a fractured pinky finger and left oblique strain for most of the season, resulting in Millas getting the call in August. And then when Adams’ season was ended early by a broken hamate bone, he served as Ruiz’s backup through the end of the season.

But no matter how he got them, Millas made the most of those opportunities, impressing the Nationals’ coaching and pitching staffs in his eight major league starts behind the plate. Depending on how Adams recovers from his injury entering spring training, Millas and Pineda could be battling for the backup catcher’s spot on the Nats’ Opening Day roster before heading back down to continue developing on the farm at Triple-A.