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Pedro Severino Born: 7/20/93 Ht. 6’0″ Wt. 215 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats |
The backup job to Matt Wieters is Severino’s to lose – if the Nats don’t make a trade. How serious the Nats are about a platoon is also a factor. Alas, he’s still right-handed, he still has one option left, and he’s still subpar as a hitter. In other words, SSDY. While this may frustrate some folks, this has been the deal with Severino since 2013: A defensive standout who might learn to hit someday, and for part of one year (2014) it looked like he could (9HR, .399 SLG%). |
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Raudy Read Born: 10/29/93 Ht. 6’0″ Wt. 170 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats |
The best way to look at Raudy Read is through the lens of Wilson Ramos: If the Nats are willing to tolerate a catcher with significant defensive flaws in order to get offense, then he’s your guy. Nobody can deny, however, that he can hit. Read does seem to have a pattern of a slow start, then turning it on late in the season (7HR, .532 SLG% in Aug. ’17; 5HR, .612 SLG% in Aug. ’16). |
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Taylor Gushue Born: 12/19/93 Ht. 6’1″ Wt. 215 Bats: S Throws: R Career Stats |
Picked up in the trade for Chris Bostick in September 2016, Gushue started 2017 with a bang: 12HR by the end of May and earned a spot on the Carolina All-Star team. But then he stopped hitting – just 6HR and a .621 OPS in the second half. The promotion of Jakson Reetz also cut into his playing time down the stretch. Defensively, Gushue is average to fringe-average at most facets of his game. It’s his power potential and ability to switch-hit that’s intriguing. |
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Jakson Reetz Born: 1/03/96 Ht. 6’1″ Wt. 195 Bats: R Throws: R Career Stats |
For the second year in a row, Reetz moved up a level despite subpar offensive production. Defensively, he appears to be moving forward, but it’s a troubling sign that he split time at both Low-A and High-A and has yet to catch 90 games in a full season. Despite having decent size, there’s very little power: just 9HR and 47 doubles in 230 games. He still takes walks at a very good clip. Look for him to return to Potomac in 2018. |