Will there be more pressure on Ruiz after rough 2024 season?

PLAYER REVIEW: KEIBERT RUIZ

Age on Opening Day 2025: 26

How acquired: Traded with Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey and Gerardo Carrillo from Dodgers for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, July 2021

MLB service time: 3 years, 64 days

2024 salary: $6 million

Contract status: Signed for $5 million in 2025, $5 million in 2026, $5 million in 2027, $7 million in 2028, $9 million in 2029, $9 million in 2030, $12 million club option in 2031, $14 million club option in 2032.

2024 stats: 127 G, 485 PA, 459 AB, 46 R, 105 H, 21 2B, 0 3B, 13 HR, 57 RBI, 3 SB, 1 CS, 16 BB, 54 SO, .229 AVG, .260 OBP, .359 SLG, .619 OPS, 74 OPS+, 2 DRS, 0.6 bWAR, -0.3 fWAR

Quotable: “He did this last year, too, where he really took off in the second half. We’ve got to jumpstart him, somehow, next year in the first half of the season. But the way he’s playing right now – everything, defense, hitting – he’s done way better, and he’s gotten progressively better every month after the All-Star break.” – Davey Martinez

2024 analysis: As his manager noted, Keibert Ruiz was better in the second half of 2023 (.809 OPS) than the first half (.658). And his 2024 season followed a similar pattern … to an extent. Ruiz was awful out of the gates, far worse than he was the previous year. After missing a brief period of time while he had a bad case of the flu, his OPS bottomed out in mid-May at an abysmal .392, lowest among all regular big league hitters at the time. And he did slowly get better as the season progressed, though not nearly as much as he did in 2023.

Over his final 74 games, Ruiz produced a slash line of .250/.280/.408. He actually hit the ball with some authority, totaling 16 doubles and nine homers during that span (which roughly equates to one-half of a full season). And his best monthly numbers came in September, when he slashed a very respectable .277/.303/.398. Still, his overall season offensive totals were awfully weak, even for a catcher.

Here’s the good news: Ruiz’s defense improved this season. To be sure, he was one of the lowest-rated defensive catchers in 2023, with minus-14 Defensive Runs Saved and a ranking in the bottom 5 percent of all catchers in blocking, caught stealing and framing. But his blocking (31st percentile) and framing (42nd percentile) were significantly better this season. And after multiple years in which his Offensive WAR far exceeded his Defensive WAR, Ruiz completely flipped those numbers in 2024.

2025 outlook: Under different circumstances, a catcher who just had Ruiz’s season wouldn’t be assured of anything heading into the following year. These circumstances, of course, are not typical. Ruiz has long been deemed the Nationals’ long-term answer behind the plate, and the $50 million extension he signed in March 2023 doesn’t give them a lot of room to maneuver.

But make no mistake, there will be increased pressure on Ruiz next season to get his career back on a positive course. To do that, he’s going to have to show real improvement in several areas of concern.

It starts at the plate, where Ruiz remains one of the best contact hitters in the sport … to his detriment. He makes contact on nearly 93 percent of pitches in the zone when he swings, which is great. But he swings at a whopping 38 percent of pitches outside the zone and still makes contact 80 percent of the time (MLB average is 58 percent). Plain and simple, Ruiz has to be more selective. Get a fastball over the plate? Put a good swing on it. Get a breaking ball or offspeed pitch that isn’t right there on a platter? Let it go. Easier said than done, of course.

Behind the plate, Ruiz still has plenty of room for improvement as well. Though his framing and blocking were better, his pop time and throwing still rated among the worst in the league. The Nationals want him to get into better shape this winter and work on his quickness and release. He may never be an elite throwing catcher, but he can be more respectable and help bail out his pitchers every once in a while.

There probably isn’t a scenario where the Nationals bring in someone to replace Ruiz as their No. 1 catcher this winter. But there could be a scenario where they bring in someone more experienced to be his backup. And if that someone performs well while he struggles out of the gate again, his status as the unquestioned starter behind the plate could ultimately be in jeopardy.