In many ways, Ruiz has been the poster child for the Nationals\u2019 surprising ascent. James Wood and CJ Abrams look like All-Stars again, but the Nats wouldn\u2019t boast the best offense in baseball without players like Ruiz.<\/p>\n
On Opening Day, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni \u2014 the man who helped hire many of the new coaches who have supported Ruiz\u2019s re-emergence \u2014 said one of his top priorities for the year was \u201clifting the floor of our major league group.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is what he meant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe past couple of years have been a little bit tough for me,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cBut (the coaches) have been helping me to bring my confidence back and be the player I know I can be, if I work hard and put my mind where it needs to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I feel like I didn\u2019t work hard enough\u2019<\/p>\n
As Ruiz sat in the visitor\u2019s dugout at Progressive Field on Tuesday, he attempted to outline exactly what had gotten him off track. He had arrived in 2021 as one of the highly-touted prospects in the mega-deal that sent Trea Turner and Max Scherzer to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was productive in 2022, signed an eight-year, $50 million contract extension, then was productive again in 2023.<\/p>\n
In the two seasons that followed, he posted a .610 OPS and dealt with a range of ailments beyond his control, including the flu and multiple concussions. Between 2024 and 2025, he graded out as a below-replacement level player, casting doubt that he would live up to the hype that had followed him.<\/p>\n
As Ruiz wracked his brain, he did not blame his lack of productivity on those aches and pains. For reasons he could not explain, he has always been insecure about his own work ethic. No matter how many hours he puts in, he has sought affirmation that he is doing enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I didn\u2019t work hard enough to prepare,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cAnd it wasn\u2019t because of the coaches (who were here before) \u2014 it was myself. And I\u2019m not trying to look for (sympathy) or whatever. It\u2019s always been my fault if I fail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m old enough to think about it and be better every single day. I\u2019ve just got to control what I can control, and keep working hard. Obviously, it\u2019s a lot of new things that (the new coaches) have brought to me, so I\u2019m just working and trying to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that meeting, the coaching staff praised Ruiz\u2019s dedication and drive. Then, they talked about how he could use it to evolve as a hitter.<\/p>\n
![\"Keibert](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2277366523-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Entering Thursday, Keibert Ruiz had a 1.045 OPS for the month of May.<\/p>\n
Take his preternatural bat-to-ball skills. On one hand, those abilities created the propensity to chase pitches outside of the zone. On the other, they led to opportunity.<\/p>\n
In previous years, the team often discusssed Ruiz\u2019s chase rate. The new coaches have continued to work with Ruiz on his swing decisions, but focused on a few factors that were easier for him to change.<\/p>\n
Ruiz entered the season with one of MLB\u2019s slowest bat speeds, which helped him make a lot of contact but restricted his ability to hit for power. He also possessed the ability to pull the ball in the air \u2014 an ever-important trait in the modern game, especially for players who do not possess exceptional power \u2014 but had gotten away from that in 2025.<\/p>\n
Over the weeks that followed the meeting, the Nationals had him spend time in the cage generating more power from his backside and taking more swings before the game with the team\u2019s new underweight and overweight bats, tools that have helped improve a number of their hitters\u2019 bat speeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally speaking, we\u2019d be okay with super high-contact guys whiffing a little bit more, if it meant increasing their bat velo more,\u201d manager Blake Butera said recently. \u201cObviously, we don\u2019t want to increase the whiff a ton, but I think there\u2019s like some runway there to maybe increase it a little bit for the guys that are really good with bat-to-ball skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Ruiz went up to the plate, he said, the Nats wanted him to think of two words: \u201cDo damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
So how did this all work out?<\/p>\n
Before<\/a> the meeting, swing speed from the left side: 66.7 mph. After<\/a>? 68.9 mph.<\/p>\n Before<\/a> the meeting, percentage of batted ball events pulled in the air: 25 percent, or 70th in MLB. After<\/a>? 58.3 percent, the highest rate in MLB.<\/p>\n Before the meeting, one extra-base every 11 at-bats. After? One extra-base hit every 4.1 at-bats.<\/p>\n This is what Toboni meant on Opening Day. Establish the right principles, deliver it with the right language and methods, and all tides will rise.<\/p>\n The many, many meetings<\/p>\n During a two-day stretch in early May, 25 players went through the same ordeal as Ruiz.<\/p>\n This season, the Nationals have started to implement \u201cplayer plan\u201d meetings, an individual gathering with every member of the roster every six weeks. First, they tell players how they\u2019re being evaluated by the organization. Then, they talk through a plan to tweak their routines accordingly.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go on these different sites, FanGraphs, Baseball Savant, whatever it might be \u2014 you see all these different numbers and letters,\u201d Butera said. \u201cWe wanted to show our players, since a lot of us are new in this organization, what we value. So it\u2019s educating the players on what we care about, and then showing how they\u2019re doing at those things that we care about.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really hard because you hear all the outside noise or you go on social media and you see this stat about a player, that stat about a player, and then I think players can \u2026 get confused. \u2018Well, what should I be doing well, what should I be caring about?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The first round of meetings were held during spring training, with information that ranged from the type of swings they take to the nutritional habits they track.<\/p>\n This necessitated chairs for\u2026 Butera, Toboni, general manager Anirudh Kilambi, farm director Devin Pearson, bench coach Michael Johns, strength coach Brett Henry, head trainer Dale Gilbert, dietitian Logan Aitken and \u2014 depending on which player was in the room \u2014 some mix of hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, pitching coach Simon Mathews, field coordinator Tyler Smarslok, first base coach Corey Ray, third base coach Victor Est\u00e9vez and catching coach Bobby Wilson.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good check in,\u201d reliever Brad Lord said. \u201cKind of just see where you\u2019re at, look at the big picture every now and then. I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the first year that the Nationals have engaged in formal meetings like these. Ruiz is far from the only one to benefit.<\/p>\n Jacob Young (another beneficiary of bat speed and pulled fly balls) has as many homers over the past three weeks as he had across his first three seasons in the majors. Curtis Mead (a beneficiary of consistent playing time and consistent mechanics) arrived in Washington with a .617 OPS across three seasons; he has an .824 OPS this year. Jos\u00e9 Tena and Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. (who also sold out for more bat speed) have seen their metrics improve.<\/p>\n The Nationals are also having Ruiz catch from a lower stance, which has helped him go from one of the worst receiving catchers in MLB to one of the best. The adjustment has also protected his head from foul balls after he suffered multiple concussions on foul tips last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing I know I can do is just work,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cThat\u2019s it. That\u2019s the only thing that I can control.\u201d<\/p>\n The coaching staff will handle the rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 Three weeks before the Washington Nationals secured a series win over the best team in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82,3968],"class_list":["post-699924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-washington-nationals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}