What Nationals Fans Should Monitor When Harry Ford Competes in World Baseball Classic

Ford will not be out of sight, out of mind when he's at the WBC, though. And according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, there is one clear thing Nationals fans should keep their eye on when it comes to how the youngster is performing.

"The questions about Ford's defense are more in the framing and running game area, so I'd keep an eye on those things as a guide toward his early-season big league playing time," McDaniel wrote when discussing what can be learned from his upcoming performance at the World Baseball Classic.

To this point in Ford's career, he has been more known for his bat than his defense. That is for good reason since he has a career minor league slash line of .266/.405/.428 with double-digit home runs in three out of his four full seasons. But if he's going to become an everyday catcher at the big league level, then the actual defensive aspect of his game has to take a step forward.

How competing in the WBC impacts Ford will be interesting to monitor. Because he seemingly is in a battle for Washington's starting catcher position -- although the team seems comfortable entering the year with Ruiz owning that spot -- there's a chance being out of camp burns him.

Without the ability to work with the new regime and coaching staff in person for a period of time, conventional wisdom would suggest that might hurt him when it comes to winning the starting job. However, if he has a good showing on the monster stage that is the World Baseball Classic, then that could go a long way for the perception that he is ready for the next step of his career.

Overall, there is a lot for Nationals fans to pay attention to when it comes to Ford. And even though he'll be competing for Great Britain, he's someone to monitor closely over the next couple of weeks after the tournament gets underway.