Pedro Severino
Catcher Pedro Severino looks poised to begin the year as the Washington Nationals backup catcher. Behind Matt Wieters, he’s their best backstop.
Unfortunately, Severino’s inconsistency in Triple-A last season gives me doubts that he can last a full year in MLB. Even as a backup, the Nationals should look for upgrades behind the plate.
A likely scenario for the Nationals in 2018 involves them upgrading over Wieters, thus pushing Severino back to the minors. Whether it’s a trade for J.T. Realmuto or someone else, it’s difficult to imagine the Nationals going the full year with the Wieters/Severino combination behind the dish.
Another possibility, the Nationals get an excellent performance from Wieters but see Severino struggle in his first full season. Upgrading the second-string catcher would cost a lot less than trying to find a legitimate starter at the trade deadline.
Because the Nationals let Alex Avila slip away to the Arizona Diamondbacks, they may have more confidence in Severino than I do. Until proven otherwise, he’s on my list of in-season casualties. Fortunately, he won’t go anywhere other than Syracuse.
As an added annotation, Severino is the one guy on this list who may not even begin the year with the Nationals. Jonathan Lucroy is still a possibility to join Washington. If he does, Severino will need to wait another year before making his MLB impact.