MIAMI – Keibert Ruiz rejoined the Nationals today, though not under the circumstances he or the club preferred.
After taking another foul ball off his facemask and experiencing a recurrence of concussion symptoms, Ruiz was pulled off his rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg and flown down to Miami to meet with team doctors and determine the next course of action.
“It’s really frustrating that I’ve been dealing with this for what, two months?” said Ruiz, who has been on the 7-day concussion injured list since July 6. “But I feel obviously better than the first time I got hit. I’m just trusting in god that everything’s going to be alright.”
Ruiz, who initially was struck by a foul ball June 23 while in the dugout in San Diego, then again while behind the plate July 5 in Washington, began his minor league rehab assignment one week ago. He successfully caught five innings in Tuesday’s debut with Harrisburg, then served as designated hitter Wednesday, then caught six innings Thursday.
He took another foul ball off his mask during the bottom of the second Thursday, though he remained in the game and finished out his planned six innings behind the plate before departing. He said he felt fine throughout that game and didn’t experience any concussion symptoms until the following day, which he reported to the team.
“Everything was OK,” he said. “The adrenaline in the game was there. Went back home. Next day, I started feeling the headache. And the next day, sleeping, too, was kind of the same symptoms as before.”
Ruiz was supposed to catch seven innings Friday and the full nine innings Sunday, but the Nationals scrapped those plans and had Ruiz re-examined, at which point it was determined he was still dealing with concussion symptoms. They pulled him off the rehab assignment and flew him to Miami to meet with team doctors.
At this point, Ruiz and the Nats aren’t making any plans beyond each individual day. It seems unlikely he would be allowed to return to any kind of game action before the season ends in 19 days, but that hasn’t been officially determined yet.
Beyond avoiding baseball activities, Ruiz said he is making sure he gets a full eight hours of sleep every night, avoiding bright lights and screens as much as possible. He’s focused on the immediate tasks before him, but he continues to insist he wants to continue catching in the long term.
“It’s something I believe I can do,” he said. “I don’t want to say I don’t want to catch anymore. No, that’s my position and I still want to catch. For this year, and what I’ve been going through, I’ve got to see what’s going to help me better to go back and catch. Maybe another mask or whatever?”
* MacKenzie Gore threw a bullpen session today and pronounced himself in good health, believing he will be good to rejoin the Nationals rotation before season’s end.
Gore, who was placed on the 15-day IL with left shoulder inflammation following his last start Aug. 26, was cleared to resume throwing several days later and has now progressed to the point where he can throw a full bullpen session with no issues.
The club’s Opening Day starter is waiting to see how he recovers from this session before figuring out his next steps. But he believes he’s on track to return to the active roster and pitch again, perhaps even without needing to face live hitters first.
“Obviously, we’ve got to be smart, but I plan on pitching again,” he said. “It’s just getting everybody together and figuring out when that is.”