Harry Ford Set for Nationals Debut After Team Officially Calls Him Up
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The second half of the Major League Baseball season is set to get underway for the Washington Nationals on Friday, as they are scheduled for a six-game road trip out west that begins with a matchup against the Athletics.
Prior to that series taking place, the Nationals made an exciting report official, as the team announced that star catching prospect Harry Ford was promoted to the major league roster as the replacement for injured backup Drew Millas. Right-handed reliever Max Kranick was also officially reinstated from the 60-day injured list, which gives manager Blake Butera an established big league arm to choose from in the bullpen.
While the Kranick portion is a massive positive for the pitching staff, the headlining news is that Ford is set to make his team debut after being a blockbuster addition by president of baseball operations Paul Toboni this past winter.
Harry Ford Expected to Serve in Backup Role
Just how often Ford will be utilized isn't clear, though. He's expected to backup Keibert Ruiz, which means he'll likely only get reps against left-handed starting pitchers. Based on who the Nationals are due to see on their upcoming schedule, that means he could find himself in the lineup on Friday to face Gage Jump -- which doesn't seem likely -- or on Sunday against Jacob Lopez. The Colorado Rockies haven't set their rotation for the upcoming matchup against Washington, but with Kyle Freeland being their only lefty starter, Ford might only get one start during that series.
All of that is to say the expectations for what Ford will accomplish during his first MLB stint with the Nationals should be fairly low. Barring anything unforeseen, he's likely going to get very few reps at the plate to make an impact.
Whenever he plays, however, Washington is hoping that what's taken place during June and July will carry over into The Show, since Ford got red-hot during those months with OPS figures of .841 and 1.028, respectively. The 23-year-old was reportedly dealing with an injury at the start of the campaign that caused his offensive numbers to crater compared to what he had done previously in his career. But he's seemingly recovered from that issue, as Ford is back to producing at a high level.
Regardless of how much Ford plays, it's at least exciting to see him with the big league squad. He's someone who could be a long-term piece of the puzzle when it comes to what the Nationals are trying to build, so getting him experience at this stage of his career is important.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai