Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
Scores
All Scores Triple-A Scores Double-A Scores High-A Scores Single-A Scores Rookie Scores
Schedule
Complete Game Schedule Triple-A Schedule Double-A Schedule High-A Schedule Single-A Schedule Rookie Schedule Sync Schedules
Teams
Teams by Affiliate Teams by Name Teams by Class Teams by League Ballparks
Watch
Watch Games Subscribe Highlights Highlights by Affiliate Prospect Highlights Streaming FAQ Help Center Gameday Audio Podcast Bally Sports Live
Tickets
Tickets
Shop
MiLB Store Auctions Shop Copa Shop Marvel
Standings
Full Season Rookie Leagues Playoffs Playoff Procedures
Stats
Full Season Rookie Leagues Trending Players Top Prospect Stats
News
Pipeline Transactions Copa de la Diversión Baseball Traveler Malmö Oat Milkers MiLB App MiLB Newsletters Sweepstakes & Contests
Prospects
Top 100 Top 30 by Team Top 50 International Draft Top 250 Trending Players
Playoffs
MLB

T-Rat Talk: Andrick Nava

New Wisconsin catcher still learning names, but providing leadership
By Kyle Lobner
August 8, 2025

In 2024 two catchers, Matt Wood and Ramon Rodriguez, combined to catch 129 of Wisconsin’s 131 games. In 2025 the backstop situation has been significantly different. Wood returned to Wisconsin for the start of the 2025 season and was behind the plate on Opening Night but moved up to AA

In 2024 two catchers, Matt Wood and Ramon Rodriguez, combined to catch 129 of Wisconsin’s 131 games. In 2025 the backstop situation has been significantly different.

Wood returned to Wisconsin for the start of the 2025 season and was behind the plate on Opening Night but moved up to AA Biloxi after just 24 appearances. David Garcia was the second catcher on the initial roster but was injured in his seventh game. Since then Marco Dinges, Blayberg Diaz, Victor Torres and Eric Martinez have all seen time in that role, but in mid-July Andrick Nava came over from the Phillies organization and became the seventh name on that list.

A native of Venezuela, Nava is 23 years old and 2025 is his sixth professional season. Over those six years he’s played in 171 games at or above the High-A level, including 24 with AA Reading in the Phillies organization this year. He was there when the Brewers acquired him on July 17 and made his Brewers organizational debut with the Timber Rattlers just two days later. In his first game with Wisconsin he caught Manuel Rodriguez, MLB Pipeline’s #30 prospect in the Brewers organization, and guided him through five scoreless innings while also collecting a pair of hits and driving in a run on offense.

“That’s what makes Nava special,” Timber Rattlers manager Victor Estevez said. “Once he showed up he’s always been talking with the pitching coaches and pitchers just trying to gain their confidence and trying to get to know the guys. As a pitcher you get used to one guy but then you get another one and another one it can be tough sometimes, but I think the communication side is the main thing over there.”

Two weeks into his tenure with the Timber Rattlers Nava said he was still working on learning everyone’s name but he’s grateful for the opportunity to get playing time in his new organization.

“So obviously it’s a little weird, getting here where everyone knows each other,” Nava said through new teammate and translator Hedbert Perez. “But I do have Yhoswar (Garcia), I played with him with the Phillies, and Eduardo (Garcia, who has since been promoted to Biloxi), I knew him from before, so they kind of helped me a lot. But now I see we’re a new family, we’re trying to help each other but everyone has the same goal.”

Typically when a new catcher joins a minor league team it’s a promotion or demotion from within the organization, so they’ve met and caught many of the pitchers they’ll be seeing in spring training or at other levels of the organization. The Timber Rattlers haven’t had a new catcher join the roster from outside the organization since 2017.

“It’s interesting,” Timber Rattlers pitching coach Michael O’Neal said of the process of teaching Nava a new pitching staff on the fly. “We’re reminding him each inning, whether it’s a catcher card that shows him strengths and weaknesses for guys that are coming in or how we want to attack left handed versus right handed hitters, things like that and giving it to him every inning. The bigger issue is when we make a pitching change mid-inning, but he’s done a great job getting to know our guys already and coming in with leadership from day one.”

While Nava is still getting his first experience with the Brewers organization, he does have a fair amount to draw on from his previous stops. During his time in the Phillies organization Nava was teammates with ten pitchers who later went on to make major league debuts.

“On the Phillies I played with a lot of big leaguers, a lot of guys that are already there. It’s an honor for me to try to help them in their process, I feel great about having been a part of their process and I just wish them well wherever they’re at,” Nava said.

For now, however, Nava has been busy these past few weeks learning how to work with his new teammates and using the lessons he learned in his former organization to help the pitchers develop in his new one.

“He came from a Phillies organization where the philosophy was ‘attack the heart (of the plate),’ stay middle the whole time and he does a great job of pushing our pitchers to be in the zone early and really emphasizing it as well that you can’t throw enough strikes before strike two,” O’Neal said. “So he does a great job with that and hit the ground running day one.”

After six years in the Phillies organization it’s not hard to imagine a new player struggling to adapt to new organizational philosophies on the fly. Nava, however, described his day-to-day routine with the Brewers organization as “basically the same thing” as what he was doing before.

“Just a winning mentality,” Nava said. “Just like with the Phillies, here you’re trying to do your best individually but as a team as well. So I’m just trying to help the team win.”

While the Timber Rattlers don’t typically see catchers from other organizations joining the team mid-season, they have recently benefitted from the experience of backstops who have played at higher levels elsewhere. 2024 Timber Rattlers catcher Ramon Rodriguez was a big part of the team’s push for a Midwest League championship after playing as high as AA during his time with the Dodgers organization and in AAA with the Orioles.

“It (that experience) is very helpful,” Estevez said. “Ramon was a big piece for us last year, seeing his leadership and then a guy who has been able to be around AAA and big league guys, it’s always going to be helpful because there’s some experience and knowledge.”

This year, despite having spent less than a month in the Brewers organization Nava already finds himself getting important assignments behind the plate for Wisconsin. Estevez said that’s not a coincidence.

“As an organization you’ve got to prioritize who’s going to play, but then rotating guys like Nava it’s always good for us, because I know that guy already caught in AA for the Phillies, he got some experience and I think it’s going to be helpful for the pitching staff here. He’s a great guy, I think he’s got the right attitude,” Estevez said.

Read More: