Bienvenidos a Miami: Ruiz enjoys another big night against Marlins

MIAMI – Ballplayers usually have an opposing ballpark they enjoy playing in outside of their home stadium. Usually, it’s one within the division where you play multiple times a year. The more you play there, the more comfortable you get and the better numbers you post.

For Keibert Ruiz, that ballpark might just be loanDepot park.

The 26-year-old Nationals catcher just enjoyed another successful night at the plate in Miami. He started Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the Marlins 3-for-3 and a triple shy of the cycle. He finished 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.

“Don't try to do too much, look for my pitch and just trusting myself,” Ruiz said after his sixth multi-hit game in Miami, 10th overall against the Marlins. “I've been working on some things in the cage, and just gotta have the plan and bring it to the game.”

“He laid off some pitches and got the ball up a little bit and just smoked some balls,” said manager Davey Martinez. “So it was good to see him have a good day today. It really was. He's been working hard.”

The Nationals have been working with Ruiz all season trying to get the switch-hitter to realize his full potential at the plate after a slow start to the season and a bad case of the flu that caused him to lose almost 20 pounds.

While Ruiz can make contact with almost any pitch, they want him to understand the strike zone better, so he makes good contact, stay up the middle of the field and have better overall results.

“Swinging at strikes,” Ruiz said of his work in the cage. “Like I said, I'm not trying to do more, just staying more like to the middle (of the field).”

“For me, with him, it's about just being consistent,” Martinez said. “He's got to learn what he did today and focus on doing that tomorrow. Today, he laid off a lot of balls down, got the ball up. He's really good at hitting the balls up. If he could continue to do that, he can swing the bat. We all know he's got unbelievable bat-to-ball skills. I think he thinks he could hit every ball hard, but he needs to understand the strike zone a little better.”

Ruiz has found consistency in Miami. After last night’s three-hit output, he is slashing .305/.379/.458 with an .837 OPS, three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs in 16 games at loanDepot park. Those are some of his best numbers at any ballpark where he’s had at least 30 plate appearances, including Nationals Park.

It also helps that he has some consistency outside of the ballpark in Miami, where his family lives and he can stay with them whenever the Nats are in town.

“I think I just got my family here and obviously it's a different energy,” he said of why he has so much success playing in Miami. “I go home and relax, play with my son. And I think when I come to the ballpark, it makes me feel a little bit different.”

Ideally, Ruiz will become more consistent in any ballpark he plays in. The Nats believe he can play at an All-Star level and showed as much when they committed to him as their long-term catcher before last season. So offensive outbursts like last night – no matter where they take place – show what he can bring to the franchise’s future.

“He'll definitely help us offensively,” Martinez said. “I really believe Keibert's a 20-25 home run guy. We've seen a little bit of it last year. By just putting the ball in play, for him, hard, you're going to see that come out of him. It's all about the chase with him. It really is. So just focus on swinging at strikes and he's going to be OK.”

And maybe play a few more games against the Marlins in Miami.