The 28-year-old has come into his own as a batter and a leader this season.
Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz locked eyes with reliever Erik Tolman. It was the ninth inning of the Nationals’ series opener against the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 11, and the rookie turned de facto closer was in trouble.
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That’s when Ruiz took matters into his own hands. During the mound visit, he not only instructed Tolman where to throw the ball but, more importantly, calmed him down. Ruiz told Tolman he believed in him, and that he should believe in himself, too.
The reassurance worked. Tolman secured the save, helping the Nationals beat the Angels, 4-3.
“Anything I can do to help the team win, I’m going to do it,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz has been with the Nationals since 2021, when he was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of the package for Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. Three years ago, Washington made him its franchise catcher, locking him up until at least 2030. Yet it wasn’t until this year that Ruiz started to not only feel like he has a voice but that he could use it.
To do so — and become the leader the Nationals need him to be — he first had to restore his confidence. The past few seasons haven’t been easy for Ruiz; he’s worked through some poor performance, and his injuries included two concussions with lingering symptoms.
Coming back from a concussion, it’s hard to not be timid. His first concussion last year was a freak accident — a foul ball ricocheted off the dugout wall and hit the right side of his head. The second, which came only two weeks later, happened when he was hit in the forehead by a foul ball that knocked off his mask.
In each instance — and with every subsequent hit that follows — he’s thought of his two children, and the future he hopes to have with them.
“I want to be good when I’m 50,” he said.
So even though Ruiz entered this season healthy, he still wasn’t playing to his potential. In early May, when his batting average was hovering around .180 and his on-base plus slugging percentage was dangerously close to going below .500, Ruiz sat at a conference table surrounded by members of the Nationals’ coaching staff and front office.
It was the first of a series of player plan meetings, a tactic the Nationals implemented this year to check in with players every six weeks. In Ruiz’s first meeting, they put his numbers on screen. They discussed ways for him to improve, from hitting the ball harder to chasing less.
But they also told him that he is a great catcher, and that he needed to think that way as well. They had a plan, and if he put in the work, they expected the results and his confidence to follow.
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His pregame work now replicates more game situations. When he takes batting practice, coaches now throw him changeups and breaking balls. Concurrently, every statistic has improved. He was hitting .283 with a .770 OPS heading into Tuesday’s game at the Detroit Tigers — marks that would be career highs at season’s end.
He’s also hitting the ball harder. His exit velocity averages 88 mph, compared with 86.2 in 2025 and 85.4 in 2024. His bat speed also has increased, averaging 67.9 mph when he hits left-handed and 67.1 when he hits right-handed (compared with 66.6 and 63.8, respectively, last year).
“I think our staff has done a tremendous job of showing him he’s a really good player,” Manager Blake Butera said. “We’re going to support him every step along the way. I think Keibert really responded to that. The confidence, backed with the fact that he knows that we’re in his corner with him, I think has allowed him to flourish.”
But putting up strong numbers at the plate is just half of what the Nationals expect of him. They also want him to be vocal, whether it’s in the clubhouse, during mound visits or in pregame meetings with starting pitchers.
Ruiz told Butera that he’s been worried about upsetting people in the past. Butera said that if Ruiz has something to say, he should say it. The 28-year-old has already earned the clubhouse’s respect, and the coaching staff has his back.
He’s still quiet in his delivery, but it’s no longer because he’s timid.
“He’s demanding,” Butera said. “If he feels strongly about something, he’ll make a point.”
As the Nationals turn their focus from 2026 to 2027, having missed the playoffs for a seventh straight season, Ruiz is a central part of their core. They’ll need both sides of him — his individual performance and his leadership — if they want to succeed next year.
“The work that I’ve been putting in with the coaches here, they’ve been helping me a lot,” Ruiz said. “Just every day working to get better.”
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