Catcher Drew Millas will have finger surgery on Friday, per Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. The Nationals backstop will undergo a procedure on his left index finger for the second time this season.

Millas has been on the injured list since mid-July with the injury. He was moved to the 60-day IL in September. Harry Ford has handled backup catching duties behind Keibert Ruiz since Millas went down.

This will be the third finger surgery for Millas in the past two seasons. He broke a different finger on his glove hand in August 2025. He went under the knife and missed the rest of the campaign. Millas recovered by the spring and broke camp with the team. He tag-teamed with Ruiz behind the plate for the first half of the season.

The 28-year-old Millas received his longest look in the big leagues this year. After playing in 49 games across his first three MLB seasons, he’s notched 50 appearances in 2026. Millas slashed .185/.277/.262 across 130 at-bats. He posted a miserable 21.9% hard-hit rate and a career-low 83.6 mph average exit velocity.

While the offensive contributions were lacking, Millas was having a solid defensive season. He was a positive contributor by Statcast’s Fielding Run Value. Millas ranked in the 77th percentile in Statcast’s Framing metric.

The new coaching staff in Washington seemed to help Millas and Ruiz both improve behind the plate. After posting -39 Fielding Run Value over the past three seasons, Ruiz has been a positive defender this year. He ranks in the 67th percentile in Framing, a massive step forward from his previous work. The Nationals were tied for last in Fielding Run Value at catcher last season. They’re up to 12th this year.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images