Meneses gets rare start at first, Ruiz gets another start as DH

By Mark Zuckerman

Masn Nationals

July 06, 2023, 11:54am

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Joey Meneses had a little extra bounce in his step this morning, certainly more than you’d expect from a player facing the quick turnaround from a three-hour game the previous night to a 1:05 p.m. first pitch today.

The reason for Meneses’ good mood: He’s playing first base for the Nationals in today’s series finale against the Reds.

This has become a rare event. Meneses, who has served as the Nats’ designated hitter 74 times in the team’s first 86 games, is playing only his sixth game in the field this afternoon. It’s the first time he’s played first base since April at Citi Field in New York.

“He’s excited about it,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He takes ground balls every day. He gets a chance to go out there today and play the field. He’s up for it.”

With left-hander Brandon Williamson starting for the Reds, Martinez decided to give both Dominic Smith and Luis García the day off and go with a more right-handed-heavy lineup. That includes Ildemaro Vargas at second base and Keibert Ruiz as DH.

“Coming into this four-game series, (the Reds) had TBD (for today’s starter), but I wanted against a lefty to give those guys a day off,” Martinez said. “I know we’re going into the All-Star break, but it’s getting hot. Dom’s done a great job over at first base for us. I just want to give them a day and keep Luis fresh as well.”

It’s the third time Ruiz has been DH this season, each of those instances coming in the last two weeks as Martinez tries to find a way to keep his starting catcher’s bat in the lineup without him having to actually catch. Riley Adams is behind the plate this afternoon, making his second start of the series.

“He’s swinging the bat really well right-handed,” Martinez said of Ruiz, whose .282 average and .753 OPS are far better than his .208 and .610 numbers when batting left-handed. “So I want to continue to keep him going right-handed a little bit. He doesn’t get many at-bats right-handed, so I wanted to get him in there and get him to DH today.”