-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
Keibert Ruiz walked around the Nationals' clubhouse with his usual big smile. He then had a playful interaction with CJ Abrams walking from his locker to the kitchen. All seemed normal.
Except life is still not normal for the 27-year-old catcher, who continues to experience symptoms from a concussion that has placed him on the injured list twice since June 24 and most recently since July 8.
“I feel much better than a couple weeks ago,” Ruiz said at his locker before today’s game against the Brewers. “And I'm just following the protocol. I gotta get used to noises and I'm sensitive. ... I'm doing a little bit more every day, like working out and all that stuff.”
Ruiz missed 10 days during his first IL stint after he was hit in the head by a ricocheting foul ball in the visitors’ dugout in San Diego. In just his second game back, he was struck in the facemask by two foul balls, which brought back the concussion symptoms.
The Nats chose to place him back on the IL the following day with the same concussion that had been reaggravated. Since then, Ruiz has barely been around the team, not traveling with them on road trips and not coming around the home clubhouse while trying to get his sensitivity to light and noises down.
“With all the noises during the day, in a full day, like on the field, yeah,” Ruiz said of trying to feel normal again. “And feeling the symptoms … and then like a headache. At night I can't sleep sometimes. But the more I do it, it will get better and I can just be normal.”
Ruiz has been able to hit, play catch and even catch pitches off a machine in recent weeks. But he’s still not close to returning to game action since he cannot risk getting hit in the head again. The frustration is mounting the more time he misses.
“Really frustrating,” he said. “I want to wake up one day and not feel anything, and I want to be all day on the field and listen to all the noises and go back home and be good. But it takes time to heal.”
Ruiz and the Nats also have to keep his long-term health in mind. Reaggravating the concussion could have serious side effects. And because this injury is affecting his day-to-day life, not just his baseball life, it’s even scarier for him to deal with.
“I want to play, of course, but I want to live, too, with my son and my family,” Ruiz said. “And this is something that I’ve been (through a second time). I got hit on the head with a foul ball. And I went back and played and got (hit with) two foul balls, and that's when it got worse. So I don't want to go back again and get hit and get even worse. No, I want to make sure that I'm 100 percent. And then if I get another foul ball, I'll be all right.”
A small step in the right direction is rejoining the team in the clubhouse, where he’ll continue to get treatment around his teammates.
“It is awesome. He's a part of the family. He's a part of the team,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “I know he's dealing with that stuff. He's getting better. He's been feeling better. He said that when he does too much, he still feels it. But he's feeling better. He's been swinging, he's been playing catch and all that stuff. So hopefully, he gets better and he doesn't have that feeling anymore. But first is his health. But it's nice to see him around the clubhouse and sharing and being around the players and his teammates.”
The next steps are still unknown. Ruiz has another doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, where he’ll hopefully receive good news. From there, he and the Nats might have a better idea of his timeline back to the field.
“Patience and follow the protocols,” Ruiz said of what he can do for now. “I got another appointment on the fifth to see the doctor and go from there.”
