Riley

Adams

This is the countermove for the Gus Varland waiver claim. Adams was thought to be a non-tender candidate two months ago, but the Nationals wanted him back as a reserve catcher option and signed him to a cheap one-year deal. He’ll probably clear waivers and stick around as a potential backup to Keibert Ruiz. He presumably would be squeezed out if Harry Ford makes the team.

The Nationals will have no non-tenders this year. Adams, who hit .186/.252/.308 in a career-high 286 plate appearances last season, has seemed to be on the cut line two years in a row, but he’s again sticking around, and he’ll be the favorite to serve as Keibert Ruiz’s backup. The right move here, if the Nationals were at all serious about getting back into contention, would have been to drop Adams and pursue a halfway decent starting catcher to play over Ruiz.

The encouraging development here is that Adams hasn’t been sent to the injured list after taking a foul ball to the groin area during Tuesday’s game. The 29-year-old will likely need a couple extra days off to rest and recover after the painful incident. It’ll be journeyman Jorge Alfaro handling the catching duties in his absence.

Adams took a foul tip in an extremely unfortunate place and immediately left the game. The hope here is that he managed to avoid serious injury. It’ll be Jorge Alfaro taking over the catching duties for now. There should be an update on his status following the contest.

Adams’ opposite-field shot to right checked in at just 348 feet, but it was good enough to get out of Daikin Park. According to Statcast, it would have been a homer in just six of the other 29 ballparks. Adams also singled in the contest. He’s batting just .189/.217/.346 on the season, but he’s come in at .208/.288/.415 this month while getting extra playing time in place of the injured Keibert Ruiz.

Adams now has five home runs and 12 RBI on the season, with just a .527 OPS. Keibert Ruiz has been on the concussion list since July 6 and Adams has been the main starter for Washington since Ruiz has been out. Given Ruiz’s concerning series of head injuries, Adams could hold the job for a little bit, which at least makes him a name to watch in two-catcher formats.

Adams’ home run was his fourth of the season. The 29-year-old catcher slugged a solo home run off Quinn Priester in the seventh inning. The backup catcher is hitting .152 on the year and not currently an option in fantasy leagues.

Ruiz was injured June 23 when he was hit in the head by a foul ball sent into the dugout. He’ll go back to serving as the Nationals’ primary catcher, though he had lost some time to Riley Adams before getting hurt. Ruiz has hit just .247/.278/.320 in 259 plate appearances this season.

Ruiz heads to the injured list after being lifted from Monday’s series opener against the Padres when he was struck on the side of the head while in the dugout by a foul ball from teammate Josh Bell. It’s the second time in the past week that a player has been struck by a foul ball after a similar incident occurred last week involving Rays reliever Hunter Bigge. It’ll be Riley Adams handling the catching duties in his absence.

Adams made a wild throw on a Conner Capel steal attempt, allowing Capel to go on to third. Many expected the Nationals to move on from the arbitration-eligible Adams after he spent the final five weeks of last season in the majors, but they kept him around to compete with Drew Millas for the backup catcher job. That he’s out of options and Millas still has two remaining should give Adams an edge here. However, the Nationals shouldn’t be too worried about that, since even if Adams exits the organization, they’d still have Andrew Kinzler in Triple-A as depth.