Nationals' Keibert Ruiz Exits Game Early Against Braves Due to Apparent Head Injury
In this story:
On Wednesday, the Washington Nationals got set to play the Atlanta Braves for the final time during the 2026 season.
Looking for a win that would secure a two-game sweep over their division rivals, the Nationals turned to right-handed pitcher Brad Lord for the start. The 26-year-old was sharp during the early stages of this outing with five strikeouts and only one hit allowed through three innings. That was easily the best Lord has looked since returning from the injured list on Aug. 5, and he looked poised to have a dominant showing against one of the league's most explosive lineups.
But in the top of the fourth inning, things changed. Catcher Keibert Ruiz, who had a major role in Lord's dominant showing through the first three frames, exited the game with what appeared to be a head injury after a foul ball clanged off his mask.
Nationals Remove Keibert Ruiz Early on Wednesday
Ruiz immediately slumped over, which caused some alarm bells to go off in Washington's dugout. That resulted in the trainer and manager Blake Butera to come out onto the field to assess Ruiz. And once they were complete with their checks, the decision was made to pull him from the contest.
Head injuries have been a talking point for Ruiz recently. Last year, on June 23, he he was hit in the head by a foul ball when he was standing in the dugout. Later, on July 5, he took a foul ball off his mask that resulted in the Nationals putting him on the concussion IL.
Things got complicated after that. During his rehab assignment, he suffered from headaches and other setbacks after he took another foul ball off his mask. That prompted Washington to shut things down, and he didn't appear in another MLB game for the Nationals in 2025.
Ruiz was frustrated with everything surrounding his head injuries, and he even talked about a possible position changed based on the fear he had regarding everything. Ultimately, he decided to return to his catcher position, which resulted in a breakout season this year with an OPS+ that was 11 points above the league average mark of 100 to go along with career-highs in batting average (.283) and slugging percentage (.451).
Hopefully, Ruiz was only removed out of an abundance of caution and there is nothing more severe that comes out of this. At the time of writing, the game between the Nationals and Braves went into a weather delay, so there was no update regarding the status of Ruiz.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai