Nats hope Ruiz breaks out of slump by continuing to play

Keibert Ruiz is in the Nationals lineup tonight, the 11th time he’s been in the lineup over the team’s last 13 games. He’s in there despite the career-worst 3-for-51 slump he’s stuck in. It’s quite possible he’s in there because of that slump, most of which has occurred since the 25-year-old catcher returned from a stint on the injured list with a bad case of influenza.

“When you get sick like that and miss 15 days, your timing is going to be off. And he lost a lot of weight,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s really working his way back. The only way he’s going to get his timing is by going out there and playing. He’s got to play.”

Ruiz has been playing a lot. Already a workhorse when healthy and productive, he’s getting just as much playing time now, perhaps even more. Last week he started on four consecutive days, though he was designated hitter for one of them.

The results have been tough to watch. Ruiz has one homer, two singles and one walk since coming off the IL. And there hasn’t been a lot of hard contact, with weak grounders and popups far more common.

Martinez believes the slump has to have a direct connection to his illness and recovery. He’s not worried about how Ruiz is holding up physically during this stretch.

“He’s doing fine in that respect,” the manager said. “I ask him every day, and he says his body feels good. He’s going to get there. Yesterday he hit a ball hard. It’s just going to take him a little time to get his timing right.”

After going 0-for-4 during Tuesday’s 3-0 win, Ruiz enters tonight with ugly season totals: a .127 batting average, .184 on-base percentage and .395 OPS. He ranks in the bottom 10 percent of the league in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage and walk percentage.

“He wants to contribute, but he’s taking it about as best as you could take it,” Martinez said. “He wants to do well, but he knows where we’re at. We’ve had conversations with him. It’s going to come. Don’t force it. Just get yourself ready. Get your timing ready. … We just have to take some time to get him going.”

In spite of his offensive struggles, Ruiz continues to impress team officials with his work behind the plate. Though he still rates slightly below average, he has shown marked improvement in pitch framing (minus-1 run this season vs. minus-13 last season) and preventing runners from stealing off him (minus-1 run this season vs. minus-8 last season).

“He’s doing well,” Martinez said. “He’s still blocking balls, calling a good game, as we can see. He’s definitely doing well. I know for him it’s a little frustrating, because he wanted to get off to a good start. But when you’re that sick, and you missed that much time, it’s going to take him a minute.”