Harry Ford (hand, wrist) not in Saturday’s lineup

Ford felt something during his final at-bat which prompted his removal and he went for testing after the ballgame. No word yet on the results of that imaging. The Nationals’ depth behind the plate is very thin at the moment so if Ford lands on the injured list, it could lead to chaos. Expect the Nats to have an update on his status prior to Saturday’s game.

Ruiz is back handling the catching duties for the second time in three games after missing time for precautionary reasons with a possible head injury last week. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern moving forward.

And his best at-bat was his lone out, which saw Kyle Tucker reach over the wall in right to rob him of a home run to right field. Ford is hitting .200/.319/.398 through 94 plate appearances. He seems ready to split time behind the plate with Keibert Ruiz next year.

Ruiz has managed to avoid a trip to the injured list after passing concussion protocol earlier this week. The 28-year-old was lifted from Wednesday’s game against the Braves after taking a foul tip off his catcher’s mask. He’s day-to-day for now.

Nationals manager Blake Butera said afterwards that Ruiz passed concussion protocol and will undergo further evaluation prior to Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers. He was pulled from Wednesday’s contest after taking a foul tip off his mask during the fourth inning.

Ford has settled into about a 60/40 timeshare in deference to the veteran Keibert Ruiz as the season winds down. He’s played 23 games since his recall on July 17, starting 19, and is hitting .197/.303/.409 with three homers and a stolen base. Not exactly numbers that have us rushing to the waiver wire, but he certainly hasn’t embarrassed himself early.

Ruiz doubled off the top of the wall in the seventh inning, a ball that would have gone out of 22 of 30 MLB parks. He didn’t hustle out of the box and could have easily had a triple if he had; he redeemed himself in the ninth with a two-run shot that took the game out of a save situation. Ruiz has been getting hot again, hitting .373/.439/.529 over his last 15 games with two homers, and remains a viable second catcher or streamer in one-catcher leagues.

Ruiz broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning when he hit a solo shot off of Marlins reliever Tyler Zuber to put the Nationals up 1-0. It was the eighth homer of the season for Ruiz and his first since July 10th, but the switch-hitting catcher has been solid at the plate as of late. Ruiz is slashing .364/.429/.455 in the month of August.

Ford had just four homers in 58 games in Triple-A this season, but it took him only three plate appearances to go deep for the Nationals. It’s his first major league homer, as he didn’t have any in his eight plate appearances for the Mariners in his cameo last season. Ford’s fantasy potential has taken a major hit with his stolen base ability vanishing — he had no steals in Triple-A this year after dropping from 35 in Double-A in 2024 to just seven for Tacoma in 2025 — but there’s still hope for him as a starting catcher for the Nationals. He’ll probably return to Triple-A once Drew Millas returns from the IL, but he’ll see a fair amount of action until then.

He’ll probably split time with Keibert Ruiz fairly evenly, so he’s not necessarily a must-roster in shallow leagues. Ford hit .223/.370/.335 in 58 games in Triple-A Rochester, but .292/.486/.542 in eight July contests that convinced the Nationals that he might be ready.