Stephen Strasburg had his choice of catchers and games for his 2021 debut last week.
With a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., the Nationals’ 2009 No. 1 overall pick considered his options and chose to pitch the second game of the twin bill with catcher Tres Barrera behind the plate.
“I got a chance to throw to Tres probably a couple years ago on some rehab assignment for something,” Strasburg explained, “and just the way he calls a game, the way he receives the ball, that was one thing that I really noticed even back then when he was in — I think he was in Potomac or something like that.