Keibert Ruiz

• Position:  Catcher
• Current status: Signed through 2030 (8 years, $50M) with 2031 & 2032 team options
• How acquired:  Traded by the Dodgers along with Josiah Gray, Gerardo Carrillo, and Donovan Casey for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, 7/30/2021
• 2023 Grade: B
• 2024 Opening Day Projection: Starting catcher and #5 hitter
• 2023 stats: 136 G, .260/.308/.409, 55 R, 24 2B, 0 3B, 18 HR, 67 RBI, 1-2 SB, 214 TB, 97 OPS+, .310 wOBA, 93 wRC+, 1.3 bWAR, 0.0 fWAR

2023 Analysis

Early in the spring, Ruiz switched agents (away from Scott Boras) and promptly signed an eight-year extension with the Nats, becoming the first member of the rebuild to do so. He scuffled out of the gate, slashing .226/.279/.360 in the first half, perhaps because he was pressing to prove himself worthy of his new contract but definitely because he was overworked, catching seventy times in ninety games with three appearances as a designated hitter. He got more rest in the second half and promptly went on a tear, hitting .300/.342/.467 the rest of the way to finish strong. Ruiz, still just 25, looks like an offensive plus behind the plate in his prime, but his defense took a major step backward in 2023. After back-picking his way to a slightly above-average 28% caught-stealing rate in 2022, his success rate fell by almost half, and he led the NL in passed balls for good measure.

2024 outlook

Ruiz has swung pretty wildly between extremes throughout his two-plus seasons in DC since coming over from the Dodgers in July 2021. It feels like there are fortnights where he is impossible to get out and entire months when every at-bat seems to be a weak tapper or pop-up on the second or third pitch in his efforts to not strike out. Can he find more consistency? The reason for hope is that Ruiz is truly elite at putting wood on leather - only seven players in baseball swung and missed less often. If he can maintain somewhere around a .280/.330/.440 line, which is well within his grasp, and be average defensively, we’re talking about a key asset as a tough out with pop. If he’s the fifth batter in your lineup, as he may well be for much of 2024, that’s not exactly ideal. If he’s hitting seventh? Then you’re talking. Hopefully, Ruiz continues to improve offensively while some of the cavalry arrives to put him and the team in a more advantageous place.