Ruiz's offensive improvement has been slow, but steady

It’s too late for Keibert Ruiz’s season totals to become respectable. The Nationals catcher dug himself into such a deep hole in April and May, he simply wasn’t going to be able to climb all the way back and finish with offensive numbers that look decent on the back of his baseball card.

But anyone who has watched Ruiz over the entirety of the season can see he’s a much better hitter now than he was several months ago. He has progressively improved, and the version he’s put there of himself the last few weeks has been the best version of him.

“The way he’s playing right now – everything, defense, hitting – he’s done way better,” manager Davey Martinez said Thursday. “And he’s gotten progressively better every month after the All-Star break.”

That’s not entirely true. Ruiz was slightly better in May than he was in June, slightly better in July than he was in August. But the overall improvement most definitely is there, from a .488 OPS in March and April to a .554 OPS in May and June to a .679 OPS in July and August. And now, through the first 12 days of September, he boasts a .958 OPS built on the strength of a 12-for-36 hot streak and seven extra-base hits.

Ruiz delivered his sixth double of the month during Thursday night’s loss to the Marlins. He has been hitting the ball with more authority, especially to right field, and not chasing pitches out of the zone quite as regularly as he did during the season’s first half.

“When he’s on and he doesn’t chase, he can hit,” Martinez said of the 26-year-old. “He’s hit so many home runs foul, we’ve got to get him more to right-center field. If we can do that, this kid can hit 20-25 home runs for us.”

Late surge or not, Ruiz enters the season’s final 16 games with an abysmal .228/.261/.371 slash line, good for a .632 OPS that would easily be the worst of his career. There’s only so much he can do in these final 2 1/2 weeks to make those numbers look better heading into the winter.

But the Nationals are less concerned about season-ending stats than about season-long progress. They know Ruiz has been a far better hitter in September than he was in April. Now they just have to figure out how to make sure April 2025 resembles September 2024 for him.

“I think he wants to start off so good that it kind of snowballs on him, and goes the other way,” Martinez said. “He starts chasing hits right away. We’re going to talk to him a lot about just accepting his walks early, doing some of the little things early, and go from there and not try to do everything in one April. Just be where your feet are and play the game the way you know you’re capable of playing it. Don’t worry about the numbers.”