Nats lock up Ruiz

[nobleisthyname]

I'm still not seeing too much of a reason to be concerned at the plate. He's hitting the ball way harder this year than last, particularly barrels, the most valuable type of contact. The results will come eventually.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

yes, it's the D that's the problem.

Nats will be one club helped a lot by robo balls and strikes. Neither Ruiz nor Adams frame.

[Slateman]

First game as a DH went 3-4 with a double and two singles.

[hotshot]

I've always liked Ruiz's bat. He consistently makes decent contact against good pitchers. Maybe DH might take the stress of his defensive shortcomings away and allow for more offensive production.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I've always liked Ruiz's bat. He consistently makes decent contact against good pitchers. Maybe DH might take the stress of his defensive shortcomings away and allow for more offensive production.

Frandsen has been harping on it but he is 100% right. With Ruiz's contact skills, he should look for pitches to drive until he gets 2 strikes. He'll still have among the lowest K% of any catcher.  I'd love it if he were 12% Ks (roughly 1.5 x current his 8.4%) if it brought a .260 batting average and a .200 ISO.  I don't think that's farfetched. his xBA is .287 and his xSLG is .497.  If the x numbers were real, he'd be better than what I am looking for.

[Slateman]

Im wondering if we would simply be better off making him the full time DH and going ans getting a decent defensive backstop

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Millas.

[Slateman]

I think the time has come to DH him more and let him work on  throwing/pop times.

Riley deserves more chances

[JCA-CrystalCity]

FWIW, Millas has been having trouble at Rochester.  104 PA, .227 /.317 / .364. A bit of BABIP luck change from AA (.387 to .257). Good K rate, with a slip in his BB rate.

Millas may fit in the equation here. If his bat is passable, his D might help push Ruiz to DH or 1st. 

The thing that's bugging me a bit about Ruiz is I'm not sure the quality of the contact isn't slipping. I had always put some faith in his numbers coming around to projections. He's the biggest under-performer of his "x" stats based on quality of contact among the top 60 in xwOBA, and it is not even close (he's .066 under). It's not a speed thing, because the next biggest gap is for Bobby Witt Jr. (.050). Is there a decent working theory as to why? Other slowish guys are not huge underperformers.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/the-sleeper-and-the-bust-episode-1195-manoah-returning-bradishs-breakout-and-surprising-all-stars/

Keibert Ruiz has a 39 wRC+ in the L30 days

that was before Friday's game and today's 0-4.

[Slateman]

Send him down to Rochester

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Send him down to Rochester

yabut we don't have a 2d catcher with pineda hurt and millas just up to aaa

[Slateman]

yabut we don't have a 2d catcher with pineda hurt and millas just up to aaa

Find anyone. Coles is killing this guy

[IanRubbish]

Seems like the Nats will do their typical "play the contract, not the best player" move here and let him get far more ABs than he should. 

[catocony]

Maybe starting Ruiz at catcher 6 games a week for the first half of the season was a bad idea?  He doesn't need to be sent down, he needs to get fewer starts, especially with Adams playing pretty well. 

[Slateman]

Maybe starting Ruiz at catcher 6 games a week for the first half of the season was a bad idea?  He doesn't need to be sent down, he needs to get fewer starts, especially with Adams playing pretty well. 

He cant hit MLB pitching. He sucks at fielding. Poor baserunner. He doesnt throw out runners. He seems incredibly passive/quiet.

Exactly why should he be on the MLB team right now?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/13/keibert-ruiz-catcher-nationals/

golden discussing Ruiz's defensive drop from middling / adequate last season to bottom of the barrel this year, as well as some of the work he's doing with Blanco to improve.

Ruiz’s defensive numbers are alarming because he had better stats in almost every area of his game during his rookie season. This year, Ruiz has the fourth-worst pop time in the majors at 2.05 seconds. His pop time, which measures the period between a pitch hitting the catcher’s mitt and the catcher’s throw reaching the second baseman, was 2.00 seconds last season. That’s still not great, but Ruiz was in the middle of the pack.

He had five blocks above average on potential passed balls and wild pitches a season ago. This year, he has seven blocks below average — only trailing the San Francisco Giants’ Blake Sabol and Mike Zunino, who was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians and is now a free agent. Ruiz ranks last in MLB with minus-12 catcher framing runs; that stat takes balls framed as strikes and converts them into runs saved. Last season, he was at minus-4.

Flags framing as an issue. Blanco observes that it is tough to learn fundamentals at the big league level, but in recent years there's less learned in the minors. Says second season is tough for young catchers because there's a book on them.

[Natsinpwc]

Too bad he didn’t develop in a strong organization like the Nationals.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Too bad he didn’t develop in a strong organization like the Nationals.

have we produced a catcher since the move to DC? Jesus Flores was a Rule 5, Ramos I think was in the majors before we traded for him and he played right away.  I guess maybe Pedro Severino should count.

[Slateman]

Too bad he didn’t develop in a strong organization like the Nationals.

Came here with average to slightly above average defense, with good bat to ball and some power.

Two Nats development cycles later, hes one of the worst catchers in baseball

[Natsinpwc]

Came here with average to slightly above average defense, with good bat to ball and some power.

Two Nats development cycles later, hes one of the worst catchers in baseball

His defense was poor when he arrived. See the comments in that article about framing skills. Seemed to get a little better last year and now backwards this year. Dodgers pulled a fast one on Rizzo.

Development occurs in the minors.

[Natsinpwc]

have we produced a catcher since the move to DC? Jesus Flores was a Rule 5, Ramos I think was in the majors before we traded for him and he played right away.  I guess maybe Pedro Severino should count.

We have not really developed much of anything.

[imref]

have we produced a catcher since the move to DC? Jesus Flores was a Rule 5, Ramos I think was in the majors before we traded for him and he played right away.  I guess maybe Pedro Severino should count.

Sandy Leon and Pedro Severino stuck around in the majors for a while, both came up through our system.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Sandy Leon and Pedro Severino stuck around in the majors for a while, both came up through our system.

Leon is a major leaguer and had  a long career.

[skippy1999]

Leon is a major leaguer and had  a long career.

Seriously, Sandy did alright for himself!