Nats lock up Ruiz

[imref]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/washington-signs-up-for-eight-more-years-of-keibert-ruiz/

[JCA-CrystalCity]

broke off the portion of the extend ruiz thread before the signing tweet, locked the old one, merged the post-signing thread with the "Nats lock up Ruiz" thread, and retitled everything that way.  Just earning my mod money.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

A study on Baseball Savant that analyzes catcher's throwing ability, neutralizing things like pitcher holding and delivery, speed of runners, etc... has Keibert as one of the worst abilities catch base stealers in baseball this year. 
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/catcher-throwing

Here's an article that discusses how this is calculated and analyzes a few very good catchers like Realmuto and Langeliers and mentions a few who fair poorly. Much of the blame on Ruiz is attributed to longer than average pop times.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/statcasts-new-catcher-throwing-metric-is-here/

Regardinv Ruiz:

Sometimes catchers are unlucky because their pitchers put them in a hole, and other times they can be even worse than expected. Unfortunately, there are some promising young catchers who fall into the latter category. Keibert Ruiz is 2-for-17 (12%) to start the year despite a 23% estimated CS%. His plus-2.00 pop time is the main reason for this. If his framing continues to trend in the wrong direction along with his arm, he will need to be an above-average hitter to live up to his prospect pedigree.

[Slateman]

He sucks at all the things analytics catch. So yea, of course he's on the Nats.

Its whatever, this deal was too stupidly cheap to pass up. Hopefully he figures out how to hit for a bit of power and we can DH him

[JCA-CrystalCity]

He sucks at all the things analytics catch. So yea, of course he's on the Nats.

Its whatever, this deal was too stupidly cheap to pass up. Hopefully he figures out how to hit for a bit of power and we can DH him

he threw out 28% of his runners last year, so I'm willing to wait on how he develops this year. Perhaps there's something off at the start of the year, including whether they are concentrating less on the running game as Gray and Gore develop. I don't recall anything on his pop time last year.

RE: last year, just sorting on the catchers with 800 or more innings (15), his CS% in 2022 looks top half. 

Worse - Nola, smith, Stassi, Heim, hedges, Stallings, Diaz, D'Arnaud, MAldonado, Vazquez.
Better - REalmuto, Raleigh, Murphy.

Granted, the new data is a more sophisticated approach, but I'm thinking last year is a more full set of data.  Of course, having more steals attempted against him than, say, Maldonado, is a sign of respect for Maldonado.

[Slateman]

*shrugs* its early. According to statcast, Robles is now one of the worst defenders in baseball

[catocony]

Somebody needs to let Keibert know that he's a catcher and slow, and stop trying to stretch singles into doubles.  He was thrown out at 2nd again today, and I think 3 times in the last week or so. 

Just Say No to catchers trying to stretch out singles.  It hasn't worked for going on 150 years.

[GataNats]

Nothing special about this guy at all

[catocony]

He's a solid catcher and locked up on a team-friendly long term deal.  Will he be a perennial All-Star?  Probably not.  Will he be an above-average Major League catcher?  Most likely.  He just can't run, and he needs to know it.

[Natsinpwc]

He needs to hit a bit more and with power given his lack of defense. Don’t have a problem with what he did yesterday. Two outs and up three runs on a team that hits a lot of singles. Reminiscent of Bob Boone adventures on basepaths. Maybe he gave him tips.

[imref]

https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/four_hitters_who_have_had_the_worst_luck_to_start_2023/s1_13132_38865043

Keibert Ruiz, Catcher, Washington Nationals

The Nationals catcher might be the unluckiest hitter in all of baseball, hitting a paltry .224 on the season. But Ruiz is seeing a 60-point difference between his batting average and xBA, which checks in at .284.

With the ability to make consistent contact, Ruiz has not been rewarded for his efforts this year as the ball is not dropping with the defense always being in the right place to make the play.

A big piece of the deal that sent former ace pitcher Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, the Nationals will be hoping for better results at the dish for the young catcher.

[nobleisthyname]

Was going into this some in the Darnell Coles thread, but Ruiz should be due for some positive regression hopefully soon. All of his underlying metrics are better than last season. There's no reason the actual results should be worse.

[Smithian]

Reverse jinx with imref bumping this thread before yesterday's game!

[imref]

Reverse jinx with imref bumping this thread before yesterday's game!

i'll take it.

[welch]

And Kiebert helps to beat the Great and All-Powerful Dodgers.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

gotta lay off criticizing his power for a few days

[nobleisthyname]

Tied his 2022 number of home runs today.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

iso up to .158, almost as many bbs as ks. 92 wRC+. really unlucky so far in terms of expected stats, but could be set to explode when his contact gets some reasonable luck

[imref]

And he’s still only in his second season

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

That was fantastic   

[JCA-CrystalCity]

on Keibert's D:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/five-things-i-liked-or-didnt-like-this-week-june-16/

. Sixty-three catchers have made five or more throws to second base this year. Ruiz is 60th in pop time; it takes him 2.05 seconds to get the ball down there on average. That’s because his average throw travels 77 mph, also 60th out of 63. He’s middle-of-the-pack when it comes to getting the ball from glove to hand, but if you combine middling transfer time with poor arm strength, the result is a ton of stolen bases.

There are ways to get by as a defensive catcher even with a below-average arm. Jose Trevino is a good example of this; he has the exact same arm strength as Ruiz per Statcast, but still controls the running game acceptably well. He does it because he’s accurate, makes quick transfers and rarely gives a throw away. If there’s a chance to make a play, he gets the ball down there. If there isn’t, he doesn’t.

Statcast estimates the chances of catching a runner for all attempts, even the ones where catchers don’t throw. When Trevino holds the ball, it’s because he has no play; Statcast thinks an average catcher would catch only 13% of basestealers. That’s a good time to eat the ball and not try a throw that you can’t make with a weak arm. Ruiz fails to make his throws far more frequently, and on easier attempts to nab; Statcast thinks an average catcher would throw out 26% of would-be stealers. Getting to Trevino-level mechanics behind the plate would turn a few stolen bases into outs and help balance out the ledger.

[Slateman]

Not ideal

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Was watching a replay of his 9th inning AB just now. Spoiled off a low pitch that had him fooled the pitch before the dinger.

[welch]

Start Riley Adams two games a week. Sometimes three. Maybe Ruiz is being worn down. All those fouls off the mask and off his arms. All the thought behind calling pitches for mostly mediocre pitchers against good hitters. Give the kid a break now and then.

[rileyn]

Start Riley Adams two games a week. Sometimes three. Maybe Ruiz is being worn down. All those fouls off the mask and off his arms. All the thought behind calling pitches for mostly mediocre pitchers against good hitters. Give the kid a break now and then.

That's what I'm saying.  Let him catch his breath.  I might even encourage to strike out more, meaning take a pitch every now and then.  I feel like he swings at everything just trying to make contact.  Take a pitch and find one you can do something, rather than roll over a pitchers pitch and bounce out to 2nd.