Keibert

Ruiz

Ford takes a seat after exiting Friday’s game with a left-hand issue that could also be wrist-related. The encouraging news here is that he hasn’t been placed on the injured list, which typically happens whenever a backup catcher is facing an absence. There should be an update on his status at some point before the weekend wraps up.

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.

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.

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.

The performance lifted his OPS over .800 this season. Ruiz’s plate discipline remains poor, but he makes up for it with plus-plus contact skills. So far in 2026, he has combined more fly balls with a higher HR/FB percentage, but he has also severely overperformed his expected stats. Ruiz has done well to turn his career around under the new regime in Washington, but he’s still not a must-roster fantasy option. Expect him to continue splitting catching duties with Drew Millas.

Millas was struck by his own helmet after it fell off on a head-first slide into third base. He was left with a bloody lip and wound up leaving the contest. Keibert Ruiz took over behind the plate.

Ruiz singled off of David Peterson in the second inning, but he was cut down attempting to steal second base. He then led off the fifth inning with a single and ultimately scored his club’s first run on a ground out off the bat of Andres Chapparo. That would be their only tally in the ballgame. For the season, the 27-year-old backstop is slashing a solid .260/.277/.500 with four homers, 22 RBI and one stolen base in 100 plate appearances.

Ruiz had a big day at the plate in Washington’s blowout win over the Orioles, leading the way with five RBI. He got the scoring started in the second inning with a three-run homer off Chris Bassit. He later added a double in the sixth, then drove in two runs on a single in the seventh. The 27-year-old backstop is up to four homers and 20 RBI while hitting .230/.244/.471 across 90 plate appearances.