Keibert

Ruiz

Ruiz is 1-for-19 with no walks in his last five games. It seems like he’s made some defensive progress this season, but his .224/.256/.360 line is horrible. Even though the Nationals have him signed through 2030, they might need to upgrade behind the plate once they’re ready to start contending again.

Ruiz’s sixth-inning blast off Marlins rookie starter Max Meyer was his 13th big fly of the season and put him a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. The 26-year-old backstop has had a disappointing season, but he’s still young enough that we’re holding out hope for a brighter future.

Ruiz was one of the few bright spots for the Nationals in a one-sided affair in Philadelphia as he notched his first multi-homer performance of the year. The switch-hitting 26-year-old backstop took Phillies starter Zack Wheeler deep in the fifth inning before doing the same to reliever Orion Kerkering a couple frames later.

Ruiz was hit by an errant pitch in an unfortunate area during Wednesday’s series finale against Arizona and could wind up needing some additional time off to rest and recover.

Ruiz put the exclamation point on a seven-run uprising in the sixth inning with a 389-foot (99.4-mph EV) three-run blast off of Matthew Liberatore that increased the Nationals’ lead to 9-0. That would be his only hit in five at-bats on the evening. For the season, the 26-year-old catcher is slashing a disappointing .218/.251/.338 with eight long balls and 33 RBI.

The catcher has been strong of late, hitting .291 in 15 games in July with three home runs, six runs, and 10 RBI. He is back on the radar in one-catcher formats but will sit on Wednesday with Riley Adams serving as the starting catcher.

It’s a routine day off for Ruiz with Riley Adams stepping in as the starting catcher. Ruiz has started to heat up at the plate over the last three weeks, hitting .295 in 16 games with two home runs, nine RBI, and seven runs. He also has just a 4.6 percent strikeout rate over that span and has re-emerged as an option in one-catcher formats.

The Nationals offense came alive late against the Mets bullpen after being stifled for seven innings by Jose Quintana and Ruiz made this a game with his ninth inning blast. Overall, it’s been a disappointing season for Ruiz who’s sporting just a .599 OPS as we approach the All-Star break.

Drew Millas will catch. Ruiz had DH’d twice in the last two weeks, but not today. While Ruiz did hit a huge three-run homer against the Braves on Sunday, he’s batting just .200/.236/.294 for the season.

With the Nationals up 1-0 in the fourth inning, Ruiz turned on an inside fastball from Hurston Waldrep crushing it 100.3 mph on a line for a three-run homer. It was Ruiz’s fourth home run of the season and a good reminder that he does have a bit of pop in his bat. The 25-year-old was off to a slow start in June, but had turned the corner in May after missing the start of the season with an illness. While his season-long stats don’t look great, but remains on the radar in one-catcher formats.