Josiah Gray worked with Tres Barrera, Riley Adams, and Keibert Ruiz in his first nine starts as a member of the Washington Nationals’ rotation, but after his ninth, skipper Davey Martinez said he wanted to get the 23-year-old starter out there at least once with veteran Alex Avila, who returned from a long, 52-game IL stint on September 1st, and announced he would be retiring last weekend, at the end of his 13th big league campaign.
“I think I want to see Alex catch Jo-Jo once, and see what that’s like,” Martinez said as he discussed having Avila catch a few of Patrick Corbin’s starts, hoping a familiar catcher’s presence might have a positive effect on the struggling southpaw.