9:34 am: The Nationals have announced the moves.
9:24 am: To create 40-man roster space for Barrera, the Nationals will recall catcher Spencer Kieboom and place him on the 60-day injured list, tweets the Talk Nats fan blog (confirmed by Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). Kieboom has an elbow injury, Dougherty adds.
8:51 am: The Nationals are set to select the contract of catcher Tres Barrera, tweets Jon Heyman of the MLB Network. It’ll be something of an early birthday present for the University of Texas product, who turns 25 next Sunday.
This marks Barrera’s first MLB promotion, no doubt spurred on by a right elbow injury to Kurt Suzuki, who had to be lifted yesterday mid-game. There’s no indication yet Suzuki’s injury is a long-term issue, as it’s possible the Nats just wanted to bolster their catching depth behind Yan Gomes the next few days. Indeed, MASN’s Byron Kerr tweets that Suzuki will not immediately be placed on the injured list, as there’s little incentive for Washington to shelve the bat-first backstop with September roster expansion.
Barrera would have been eligible for the Rule V draft this offseason if not selected to the club’s 40-man. He’s not a top prospect, so it’s possible Washington would’ve left him exposed if not for Suzuki’s injury, but he stood a decent shot at being drafted if left unprotected. Fangraphs called Barrera a defensive-minded third catcher type in their writeup of the Nationals’ farm system entering the season, but he’s produced fine numbers at the plate in the minors. In 403 plate appearances in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Eastern League this season, Barrera slashed .249/.323/.381, passable production for a viable defensive catcher.
Must have given up his Jedi Knight training…really, what a great name for the Lucas/Mickey universe…..
I don’t understand this.
Star Wars reference
So I’m not sure where to pose the question, so hopefully somebody sees this and knows. how do rosters work for the wild card game. is it a single game roster that can be adjusted when the 1st round starts, or does the wildcard and 1st round roster have to be the same?
yeah you can change rosters between the first two rounds
The Wild Card game is its own round. Teams can reset their rosters after the WC game for the DS, so typically they leave their depth starters off the WC roster in favor of a third catcher or designated pinch runner more likely to play a role late in games.
Tres Barrera, I guess his parents were in jail in some point in their lives.
Really dude!!?? Really!!??
Bypassing AAA starter, still a prospect, Taylor Gushue who features a platoon bat. Left handed hitting catcher something the Nats sorely need. He had a decent year in the hitter friendly PCL.
He’ll probably still be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. After the season he will probably be outrighted so Kieboom can get his spot back on the 40 man.
Has a younger brother, Cuatro.
Don’t forget about older brothers Juan Barrera and Dos X. Barrera.