What Will 2025 Look Like For Washington Nationals Catcher Keibert Ruiz?
The Washington Nationals are getting prepared for a big winter for the franchise, as after taking a nice step forward in 2024, they will be looking to do the same in 2025.
Coming into 2024, the Nationals knew that they were going to have a very young team that would likely be going through some growing pains throughout the year. That was certainly the case, but with those growing pains also came some reasons to be optimistic about the future.
There was a lot of young talent in Washington, and in 2024 it was on display. In the outfield, the trio of James Wood, Jacob Young, and Dylan Crews appears like it will be the unit for years to come.
While the outfield is very young, the infield is a bit more experienced up the middle with two fairly established players now in CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. In addition to those talented young players, the Nationals are also very high on their catcher, Keibert Ruiz, who they locked up long-term in 2023.
Unfortunately, 2024 wasn’t the best year for Ruiz, and what looked like a team-friendly extension at the time might have backfired.
Recently, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports talked about what 2025 could look like for Ruiz.
“2025 outlook: Under different circumstances, a catcher who just had Ruiz’s season wouldn’t be assured of anything heading into the following year. These circumstances, of course, are not typical. Ruiz has long been deemed the Nationals’ long-term answer behind the plate, and the $50 million extension he signed in March 2023 doesn’t give them a lot of room to maneuver. But make no mistake, there will be increased pressure on Ruiz next season to get his career back on a positive course. To do that, he’s going to have to show real improvement in several areas of concern.”
After hitting .260 with 18 home runs in 2023, it was a disappointing campaign for the 26-year-old catcher in 2024, as he saw not only his average drop 30 points, but he also hit fewer home runs as well.
If there was a positive, however, to take away from the down season, it was that Ruiz was much better in the second half of the season compared to the first half. In 41 fewer at-bats, the young catcher totaled more home runs and more RBIs than in the first half of the season.
Since Ruiz is under contract until at least 2029, the Nationals will need him to play more like he did in 2023 compared to what he did, especially in the first half of 2024.
