NEW YORK — A few hours before Saturday night’s game against the New York Mets, Trevor Williams called over to Riley Adams in the visitors’ clubhouse at Citi Field and asked his Washington Nationals teammate if he had seen the news. This was well before former Nationals ace Max Scherzer had agreed to be traded from the Mets to the Texas Rangers.
Instead, Williams joked with Adams that he had been sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Adams laughed and responded: “Yeah, for Mookie Betts? Me for him.” The conversation, though just friendly banter, underscored the reality of this time of year — pretty much anyone, even an under-the-radar backup catcher such as Adams, could be moved ahead of the trade deadline if the right offer comes along.
A few hours later, Adams roped a two-run double in the third inning, putting Washington up by six, ending Mets starter Carlos Carrasco’s outing and adding an exclamation point on an early offensive onslaught. Lane Thomas drove in Adams to extend the Nationals’ lead to seven, and Washington eventually prevailed, 11-6, to snap its two-game skid.
“A team like that with their power abilities, you can never fully relax,” Adams said of the Nationals’ early lead. “But it kind of frees you up as a team, and I think everyone starts playing a little loose here. And you can see a little bit more joy out there. I think that’s all exciting.”
For the second time in the week, the start of the Nationals’ game was delayed by inclement weather in the forecast despite clear skies at the time. But the rain eventually came, and the game started 80 minutes late.
Once it got going, the Nationals (44-61) turned an early mistake into an early lead. New York third baseman Mark Vientos made a throwing error while trying to retire leadoff man CJ Abrams. Thomas grounded out, sending Abrams to second, before the Nationals recorded four straight singles to grab a 4-0 lead. In the second inning, Jeimer Candelario’s double drove in Alex Call. In the third, Adams’s two-bagger extended the lead.
Adams added an RBI double in a three-run ninth. He went 2 for 5, raising his batting average to .304 and his OPS to .919 over 92 at-bats. Though Adams is by no means a surefire trade candidate, he might be an intriguing option for a Nationals team that is “open for business,” per General Manager Mike Rizzo.
“I’ve obviously been a part of a trade at the deadline, but, no, you can’t think about anything,” he said. “Baseball is hard enough to play. You got to focus on that before anything else.”
Adams, 27, was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays for Brad Hand in July 2021. Last season, he hit .176 over 155 at-bats, and he struggled in the final month while getting the majority of the playing time after starter Keibert Ruiz was injured. But Adams has improved enough this year that Manager Dave Martinez has played him more.
Adams’s swing-and-miss rate was high last year and isn’t much better this season; he had dropped from 30.1 percent to 27 percent entering Saturday. But he is swinging much more often. He had increased his first-pitch swing rate from 27.1 percent last season to 41.1 percent in 2023; the MLB average is 29.6 percent. In all, he’s swinging at 53 percent of the pitches he sees instead of 45.6 percent a year ago.
“He’s staying aggressive,” Martinez said. “He’s playing well. He really is. I’m proud of him for coming out every day, doing his work, trying to get better. He has gotten better, so good for him. Good for us.”
Catching prospects are a strength of the Nationals’ farm system. Drew Millas, 25, is a strong defender at Class AAA Rochester with a solid contact tool. And Israel Pineda, 23, was called up in September after hitting 16 home runs across three levels. He has battled injuries all year but could contribute if he stays healthy and continues to develop.
So the Nationals, hypothetically, could trade Adams while his value is high. Teams always have a need for a backup catcher who can swing the bat. But Saturday night, Adams helped Patrick Corbin and four relievers beat the sputtering Mets (49-55).
Corbin allowed four runs over 5⅔ innings. Jordan Weems, Mason Thompson, Kyle Finnegan and Andrés Machado covered the final 3⅓; Machado allowed back-to-back homers to open the ninth, but the win was well in hand.
“It’s probably one of the toughest things to do where you’re not out there every day, you’re not getting the game reps that you need,” Corbin said of Adams’s role as the backup catcher. “But people don’t see the stuff he does outside [of the game]. He’s catching our bullpens in between. He’s sitting in our meetings — even the games he’s not catching. He’s doing everything you could ask for for a backup catcher.”
After Adams’s double chased Carrasco, boos rang out at Citi Field. Though still audible, they were eventually drowned out by former Nationals pitcher Reed Garrett entering from the bullpen to Blink-182’s “All the Small Things.” That song, coincidentally enough, is Adams’s walk-up music at Nationals Park. On Saturday, it served as a celebration of sorts of Adams, who keeps making the most of his few chances.
Note: Seven of the Nationals’ 2023 draft picks played their first professional game in the Florida Complex League on Saturday as the team took part in a doubleheader. Their No. 2 pick, outfielder Dylan Crews, did not play, but third baseman Yohandy Morales, their second-round pick, went 1 for 3.
The others who played: outfielder Andrew Pinckney (fourth round), shortstop Marcus Brown (fifth), second baseman Gavin Dugas (sixth), catcher Ryan Snell (seventh), shortstop Phillip Glasser (10th) and outfielder Elijah Nunez (14th).
