The Catchers have been the story in #Nats camp: Spencer Kieboom & Matt Wieters

Mondays are for rising up! Spencer Kieboom knows he must rise up on the field like he does in the kitchen where he can do it with a little dash of yeast. Spencer Kieboom knows his way around a kitchen and behind the plate but not around the laundry room according to Kieboom’s fiancé Christa. Two out of three ain’t bad.

Christa served as a baking assistant along with Spencer’s roommates John Simms and Spencer’s youngest brother Carter Kieboom.

We asked Christa if she is marrying Spencer for his good looks or his skills in the kitchen?

“What?!,” was Christa’s initial response until she digested the question. “Definitely not for his laundry folding skills.”

Spencer Kieboom told us that he would be baking on Monday’s and the occasional Tuesday’s. He did not bring his meat smoker with him to Florida, but he has hit the local Publix supermarket and has a stocked kitchen where he cooks gourmet meals nightly.

“Christa will only be involved [in the baking] in these first two [weeks],” Spencer Kieboom said. “And Carter will be involved with [all of the baking] along with John Simms.”

So far there has not been much input from Spencer’s best friend Lucas Giolito who just lost his grandfather. Spencer plans on talking with him tonight. Last year, it was Luc and Spencer who were the Baker’s Men and social media sensations. You can read more on the Kieboom family here.

Spencer finished off this apple streusel pie with some #SaltBae #SugarBae:

Slices of that pie got split up based on players who needed the extra calories, and Spencer said that his brother Carter Kieboom definitely needed the calorie boost as hard as he is working. I suggested Trea Turner needed at least 3 slices. Teammates have to look out for teammates, but lets be real, the demand is high for these culinary creations that are good enough to land them on the Cooking Channel’s Unique Sweets show.

The entire pitching corps got a jolt today when news broke that Matt Wieters was signing with the Nationals which means someone named either Derek Norris or Jose Lobaton are going to lose their job, and the Nationals will have to remove a player from the 40-man roster.

“Personally, I think anyone that’s a competitor wants to be in there every single day,” Derek Norris said. “I’m always going to strive to better myself to help the team win. Whatever happens, happens, but as of right now, today, I’m going out and I want to start opening day and start every single day. Obviously that’s probably not going to be the way things pan out, but that’s the kind of player I am and always will be.”

The best situation would be a Wieters/Norris platoon where you get a combination between the two of them where they both excel.

“I’m still going to fight for a starting job,” Norris said. “I don’t care if it’s Pudge   Rodriguez in the prime of his career, or Yadier Molina or Matt Wieters. As of now, I’m still competing for a starting job. I’m trying to help a team win, and whatever transpires, transpires.”

For the time being, the Nationals have a lot of catchers on the 40-man roster including Kieboom, Norris, Lobaton, Raudy Read and Pedro Severino before adding Matt Wieters. Players in excess can become currency to be traded so we will have to see what Mike Rizzo does.

“There’s always somebody out there that needs a frontline catcher,” Dusty Baker said.”

Derek Norris, Pedro Severino, and Jose Lobaton


Photo by Stan4Nats for TalkNats

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