Nats lock up Ruiz

[Slateman]

Leon is a major leaguer and had  a long career.

Backup. Never cost more than 2.5 million

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Backup. Never cost more than 2.5 million

i think he started a lot for some of Farrell's Red Sox teams

Edit- more or less half time 2016-18. Hit well in 2016, then the pitchers fell in love with him when he stopped hitting

[Natsinpwc]

i think he started a lot for some of Farrell's Red Sox teams

Edit- more or less half time 2016-18. Hit well in 2016, then the pitchers fell in love with him when he stopped hitting

He was also about a half time guy in Cleveland in 2020 and Miami in 2021.

[imref]

Anyone remember Derek Norris?

[Natsinpwc]

Anyone remember Derek Norris?

Yea. He had a decent career also. Ended by allegations he beat up his girlfriend.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Anyone remember Derek Norris?

he was an all star, but he didn't make the majors until he was with the As

[imref]

he was an all star, but he didn't make the majors until he was with the As

Rookie to AA in our system.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Rookie to AA in our system.

yes. He's sort of the counterpoint to Trea in terms of development. If the Nats can't take credit for Trea, who was traded from SD as the PTBNL before he spent a year there, then the Nats should be able to take credit for Norris.

Even though Norris made an all star team, I'd still say that Leon had the most successful career. His 2016 matched anything Norris put up, and he has a ring from 2018 when he was the primary catcher for a couple of the starters.

[Slateman]

Millas is hitting in Triple A. He was always touted as very good, defensively, behind the plate.

Could Ruiz move to third? Ive often theorized that a lot of catchers would be great defensively at third because the skillsets are similar. Obviously, his range would not be great, but even an average catcher has a good arm and good reflexes

Could Ruiz play third?

[imref]

Millas is hitting in Triple A. He was always touted as very good, defensively, behind the plate.

Could Ruiz move to third? Ive often theorized that a lot of catchers would be great defensively at third because the skillsets are similar. Obviously, his range would not be great, but even an average catcher has a good arm and good reflexes

Could Ruiz play third?

Or first or DH?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Millas is hitting in Triple A. He was always touted as very good, defensively, behind the plate.

Could Ruiz move to third? Ive often theorized that a lot of catchers would be great defensively at third because the skillsets are similar. Obviously, his range would not be great, but even an average catcher has a good arm and good reflexes

Could Ruiz play third?

interesting thought. Donaldson I think is the best example of a guy who made the majors as a catcher but ended up at 3rd.  I don't recall many similar moves.

I honestly think Ruiz's bat is going to be a strength. How good? His statcast xStats are better than Thomas.

Ruiz xBA .275, xSLG .444, xwOBA .335
Thomas xBA .257, xSLG .415, xwOBA .316

Take that with a grain of salt and try to rationalize it, but the xStats seem to fit most of the top hitters pretty well, even the slow ones. Probably why there's skepticism about Thomas's trade value. I also think there's room for Ruiz to grow as a hitter as he becomes more consistently patient and looks for pitches to drive in the air.

[rileyn]

Should be batting 8/9 in the lineup.

[Slateman]

Even if you think he can achieve to his expected hitting stats, he's at best a low 800s OPS. That wont play at 1st or DH

Was he always this bad, defensively?

[welch]

Need Riley Adams to start almost half-time. By the way, Pineda was 2-for-4 (last I looked) as the Harrisburg DH last night.

Maybe Ruiz just needs some rest?

[nobleisthyname]

Even if you think he can achieve to his expected hitting stats, he's at best a low 800s OPS. That wont play at 1st or DH

Was he always this bad, defensively?

His expected stats have dropped off significantly in the past couple of months as well. He's been legitimately bad for a while now, can't attribute it to bad luck.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

His expected stats have dropped off significantly in the past couple of months as well. He's been legitimately bad for a while now, can't attribute it to bad luck.

It's like the opposite of how it is supposed to work. The actuals are supposed to move to the expected.

July was not a bad month. .276 / .309 / .408. Not as good as March / April (.281 / .354 / .393). Really, June and the past week have been his lost time. Only thing about July that was abnormal for him was a spike in Ks (16%, vs 9% on the year), but I take that as a sign that he was getting deeper into counts and hunting a bit, which he should be able to do. That said, he's not driving the ball in the air (popping and grounders), so he seems to be working on stuff that's not quite there yet.

Another thing that jumps out is he had relatively few pulled flies in the air (17% of pulled contact) vs. oppo (60%). that's jaw dropping, especially because he's no Soto/ Zimmerman with oppo power. Zero oppo HRs, where his flies are going.  On the bright side, if he can just elevate more of his pulled contact, he should see his power explode.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/keibert-ruiz/19610/splits?position=C&season=2023

[rbw5t]

interesting thought. Donaldson I think is the best example of a guy who made the majors as a catcher but ended up at 3rd.  I don't recall many similar moves.

I honestly think Ruiz's bat is going to be a strength. How good? His statcast xStats are better than Thomas.

Ruiz xBA .275, xSLG .444, xwOBA .335
Thomas xBA .257, xSLG .415, xwOBA .316

Take that with a grain of salt and try to rationalize it, but the xStats seem to fit most of the top hitters pretty well, even the slow ones. Probably why there's skepticism about Thomas's trade value. I also think there's room for Ruiz to grow as a hitter as he becomes more consistently patient and looks for pitches to drive in the air.

Todd Zelle?

[blue911]

interesting thought. Donaldson I think is the best example of a guy who made the majors as a catcher but ended up at 3rd.  I don't recall many similar moves.

Johnny Bench

[IanRubbish]

It's remarkable that a guy who strikes out so infrequently has just a .298 OBP.  But I don't think it's all bad luck/low BABIP.  He is the epitome of the org's weak contact, just don't K approach.  He's 25 so this about what we're going to get.  Also concerning that he seems to be getting playing time due to his contract while Riley Adams sits on the bench and Drew Millas hangs out in Rochester.   Having him DH has taken the Keibert silliness to new levels.

[blue911]

It's remarkable that a guy who strikes out so infrequently has just a .298 OBP.  But I don't think it's all bad luck/low BABIP.  He is the epitome of the org's weak contact, just don't K approach.  He's 25 so this about what we're going to get.  Also concerning that he seems to be getting playing time due to his contract while Riley Adams sits on the bench and Drew Millas hangs out in Rochester.   Having him DH has taken the Keibert silliness to new levels.

He’s a thumbnail of what baseball looked like in 1968.

[DCsOwn]

https://twitter.com/ajflax/status/1689704178472366080?s=46&t=Q_qc3R_qyMHAAFvlywNqzQ

Still an absolutely atrocious defensive catcher this season so I’m not trying to obfuscate things, but the offense has found the positive reversion many of us expected.

[Slateman]

Is that enough to be a full time DH?

Could we have him as the full time DH and backuo catcher, thereby "stealing" a bench spot?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Is that enough to be a full time DH?

Could we have him as the full time DH and backuo catcher, thereby "stealing" a bench spot?

I would very much like to see a clear #1 catcher, probably defense-first, and two catchers who are capable of playing other positions either as primary positions or as strong backups. That'll mean probably bat-first backups. I like the flexibility and the opportunity to better use the roster.

I am a believer in Ruiz's offensive upside. I think there's a ton of power to unlock if he starts elevating his pulled balls. His exit velocity and max exit velocity are a bit (or quite a bit) below MLB average (88 vs 89 MPH, 110 vs 118 MPH), as are his barrels (6.4% vs 82%), but his contact skills are outstanding, and his xStats suggest he should be a .275 hitter with well above average OBA (xwOBA of .334 vs MLB wOBA of .318).

[rileyn]

He is not a DH. 

[Natsinpwc]

He is not a DH.

He’s not a catcher either. All we know for sure is he is locked up.