Keibert Ruiz is not the Washington Nationals catcher of the future

Keibert Ruiz’s performances the last couple of years have shown that he is not the guy behind the plate for the Nationals

The Washington Nationals have a major problem behind the plate. Despite signing an 8-year contract extension in 2023, Keibert Ruiz has become a liability on both sides of the ball. Ruiz has become a tough watch and it is clear that this team just needs more out of the catching position.

After a difficult 2024 where Ruiz struggled mightily and suffered from illness, the pressure was on the Nationals catcher. It was time for him to live up to that contract he signed. Fully healthy, there were no excuses for Ruiz this season.

In 2023, Ruiz showed a lot of promise at the plate, but was the worst defender in baseball. Things flipped in 2024, where he was mostly serviceable defensively, but bad with the bat. In 2025, it was time to put it together. Well, Ruiz has put it together, but not in a good way.

It feels so long ago, but Keibert Ruiz got off to a great start this season. He hit two homers in the first series and was hitting .381 through his first six games. The defense was also looking solid. However, this was a false dawn. Ruiz is now struggling mightily on both sides of the ball.

Defensive Issues:

While Keibert has done a much better job controlling the running game this year, he is still a liability as a blocker and framer. You can see this both in the statistics and by the eye test. The stats say that he has -8 blocks above average and a -6 framing run value. His framing is the worst of any catcher in baseball and the blocking is second worst. With how valuable defense is behind the plate, those receiving numbers are simply unacceptable.

When watching Nationals games, it is hard to miss how often Ruiz takes strikes away from his pitchers. His framing is often erratic and he is not giving umpires great looks. When you watch opposing catchers, they look far smoother behind the plate.

These defensive woes are ongoing and are unlikely to get more than slightly better. However, there are great catchers who aren’t elite or even good defenders. For example, the next worst framer after Ruiz is Will Smith of the Dodgers. He is one of the best catchers in baseball despite being a below average defender for most of his career. That is because he is an elite hitter. However, that is not the case for Ruiz. He has also been a liability at the plate as well as behind it.

Poor Approach Ruins Ruiz’s Offense:

In some ways, Keibert Ruiz is a very talented hitter. He has elite bat to ball skills, and has the potential to hit for a high average. Ruiz has also shown some power in the past, hitting 18 home runs in 2023. However, the bat has deteriorated over the past couple seasons.

A lot of people attributed Ruiz’s struggles in 2024 to his early season illness that saw him lose 20 pounds. However, he has not been much better this season. After a smashing start to the season, Ruiz has come crashing down to earth. His average is still fine at .255, but it is empty.

The OPS is down to a woeful .624 now. Ruiz has never been a power hitter, but he has always shown the ability to run into his fair share of homers. That has not been the case this season. Keibert has not homered since March. Only 12 of his 53 hits have gone for extra bases. That is not good enough for a slow footed player who is a negative on the bases.

However, the biggest problem with Ruiz’s offensive game is his lack of an approach at the plate. His mindlessness cost the Nats last night on the rare occasions they strung together some offense. In big spots, Ruiz grounded into a double play and struck out on a pitch that almost hit him.

Ruiz is walking less than 4% of the time. This is why his on base percentage under .300 despite his solid batting average. His approach has never been great, but it has simply looked Minor League caliber since May.

In May, Ruiz hit just .233 with a .258 OBP and a .558 OPS. June has not been any better, with the Nationals catcher starting the month 1/15. Ruiz has only walked twice since the start of May.

Time to Move On:

This is now Keibert Ruiz’s 4th year as the Nationals full-time catcher. At this point, we have enough of a sample size to know that he is not the guy, at least as a starter. Maybe he could be better with a smaller workload, but as a starter he is not the guy. Given his contract, Ruiz is going to be on the roster next year, but it just can’t be as a starter.

Teams with serious playoff aspirations do not go into the season with such an obvious liability at such an important position. There are very few catchers who are the complete package on both sides of the ball, but you need your catcher to be good at something.

Keibert Ruiz has been a negative both offensively and defensively in 2025, and frankly he has been that for a while. 2026 is such a massive year for the Nationals. At some point they are going to have to make that jump into contention, and I don’t think they can do that with Keibert Ruiz as a starting catcher.