KEIBERT RUIZ STILL BUILDING:

Going into the second of two with the Baltimore Orioles in D.C. on Wednesday, Keibert Ruiz was 3 for 40 (.075/.119/.150) with one home run, a walk, and six Ks in 10 games and 42 plate appearances since he returned from a prolonged IL stint.

Ruiz, 25, dealt with a rough bout of influenza, and, as he told reporters, eventually lost 18-20 lbs. over the course of the illness, but after two rehab games he returned to the majors.

“He played two games and it’s good to have him back,” Davey Martinez said on the day Ruiz returned.

“He’s back around the boys. I saw him earlier today, he’s excited to be back.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” the manager added. “He was pretty sick, and like I said, he lost a lot of weight, so we’ll keep an eye on him.”

Ten games later, Wednesday afternoon, Martinez talked about Ruiz’s struggles at the plate since coming off the IL, and why he decided continuing to send the catcher out there was the best plan to get him back where they want him.

“When you get sick like that and miss 15 days, your timing is going to be off,” the manager explained. “And like I said, he lost a lot of weight. 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. So, the one thing that’s good about it — he wants to contribute, but he’s taking it about as best as you could take it. He wants to really do well, but he knows where we’re at. And we’ve had conversations with him, ‘Hey, it’s going to come. Don’t force it. Just get yourself ready. Get your timing ready.’ But he’s doing a better job catching, which is great, but we just have to take some time to get him going.”

The good news, Ruiz is healthy and still working his way back to full strength.

“He’s doing fine in that respect,” Martinez 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.”

Meanwhile, as Martinez said, Ruiz is doing well defensively.

“He’s doing well. He’s still blocking balls, calling a good game, as we can see. So he’s definitely doing well.

“Like I said, 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 miss that much time, it’s going to take him a minute.”

Ruiz singled in each of his first two PAs on Wednesday, going 2 for 5 overall in the extra-innings loss to the Orioles in Nationals Park.

1-0 EVERY DAY = WAY OF LIFE:

With Tuesday’s win, Washington briefly went over .500 (18-17; now 18-18 after the loss on Wednesday night), but for one brief, shining moment, for the first time since July of 2021, the Nationals went over .500.

Did Davey Martinez have any thoughts about the club finally going even a game over?

“We did?” he asked. “I didn’t even know. I go one game at a time, buddy. I don’t look at the record. I just worry about going 1-0, I really do. It’s nice though. It’s nice.

“Look, we’re playing well. We got a long way to go, so we’ve got to keep playing the way we’re playing. We’re pitching really well. We’re playing good defense. The baserunning’s good. And we’re starting to hit the ball.”

But seriously: Did he really not know the club went over .500? The “first time since ‘21 part” might have been more of a fun sort of media-driven narrative, but surely he was aware of the team’s record … right?

GM and President of Baseball ops in D.C. Mike Rizzo was asked that question in his weekly visit with Audacy’s Sports Junkies on 106.7 the FAN on Wednesday morning.

“I think that he probably knows the vicinity of where we’re at,” Rizzo said.

“I don’t know standings and stuff like that at this time of the year, it’s kind of meaningless, but I think the focus is on preparing to play a good game tonight and to go 1-0.

“I believe that. When I look back I knew we were at .500 and then above .500 because it feels good to be there.”

“It’s always good to play productive, clean baseball like last night,” he added. “The record is the record, but it’s always good to beat a good team, to compete against the best, and it was a fun game last night, and I think it will be another good one tonight.”

He was right about that, though the Nats lost the game and fell back to .500.

MORE FROM RIZZO ON THE SPORTS JUNKIES:

ALSO THIS:

QUICK MITCHELL PARKER BIT:

With the late-game theatrics on a long night on Wednesday in the nation’s capital, Mitchell Parker’s start against the O’s got a bit lost in the shuffle, with the left-hander giving up two runs, on two solo home runs, in a 73-pitch, 55-strike start in what ended up a 7-6 loss.

The homers were the first two Parker allowed in the majors, after he kept the ball in the yard in his first four starts, but he said he wasn’t too surprised to see a couple clear the fence.

“These guys are known to hit the ball out of the ballpark, you know, but I thought he pitched really well, I really did,” Martinez told reporters.

“Again, what was it, 5 ²⁄₃, 77 pitches, that’s a pretty good outing.”

Parker threw fewer curveballs than he did in previous starts (12%; vs. an average of 26.8% so far in his big league outings), and he leaned on his slider a bit more (16%; up from 5.8%). He didn’t have a feel for his slider his manger said, so he went with what he had working.

“Yeah, he didn’t really have the command of the curveball, so he went to his slider a little bit more. He got a couple strikeouts with it, he left a couple out over the plate, those two home runs were not meant to be there, but he felt more comfortable throwing his slider today.”

Through five starts, the 2020 5th Round pick now has a 2.67 ERA, a 3.05 FIP, 1.67 BB/9, 7.33 K/9, and a .240/.271/.340 line against in 27 IP.

Before he made his fifth start on Wednesday night, GM Mike Rizzo talked with 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies on Wednesday morning about what Parker has done since he got to the majors.

“Parker has been — he’s been an interesting test case for us,” Rizzo explained. “We’ve done a lot of development work with him. When we drafted him this guy was just a hard-throwing guy from junior college, striking out 16 per nine in junior college and walking eight per nine or something like that*, and he really refined his delivery, calmed it down, and he’s throwing way more strikes now.

“He’s got a really good breaking pitch along with a 92-94 MPH fastball, and what [Minor League Pitching Coordinator] Sammy Naron, and [Pitching Coach Jim] Hickey, and our pitching people have done with him is they really refined and developed his third pitch which is a changeup or a split, whatever grip he uses, but it’s a really useable nasty pitch. And again, with our pitchers, when they pound the strike zone and they’re aggressive with the hitters and they mix and match their pitches within the strike zone, he’s got a good chance to win.”

[ed. note – “To be fair to Parker, and acknowledging Rizzo was speaking extemporaneously about stats from Parker’s JUCO days, the southpaw did strike out 15.52 per 9 in 2019 at San Jacinto, and 18.98 K/9 in 2020), but he only walked 6.30 per 9 in ‘19, and 5.34 BB/9 in ‘20, for an average of 5.99 BB/9, slightly less than “eight per nine” … and so far in the majors, it has been 1.67 BB/9).”]

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Washington’s initial proposal for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The NTIA has also approved the District of Columbia’s and Deleware’s initial proposals.

According to a news release from NTIA, the BEAD program is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

The approval means Washington can request access to its allocation of BEAD funding — over $1.2 billion. The state can also start implementing the BEAD program, according to the NTIA.

The BEAD program, as stated by the news release, is a $42.5 billion state grant program through President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law to provide everyone in the country access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet.

ACP funding comes to an end

Last month, the White House pushed Congress to extend funding for The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) through the Federal Communication Commission, which allowed a $30 internet discount for those who qualify as low-income.

Background: Affordable internet program may end for millions; these are other local options

However, without funding from Congress, the last fully funded month was April 2024. Over 300,000 Washingtonians will be impacted by the end of the ACP.

“Without action from Congress, this program will sunset this spring and millions of Americans may no longer be able to afford high-speed internet service,” wrote a post by the White House.

On Thursday, U.S. Senator for California Alex Padilla announced that he cosponsored the ACP Extension Act, according to a news release from Padilla. The legislation would provide the ACP with an additional $7 billion so that the program would last through 2024.

There is also a bipartisan amendment, as stated by Padilla’s release, to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2023 being considered in the Senate to provide the ACP with an additional $6 billion.

The BEAD program runs adjacent to the ACP program, and as The Patterson Foundation puts it, “The ACP makes BEAD program dollars go farther.”

Next steps for the BEAD program

Although the ACP program appears to be coming to an end, the BEAD program will hopefully bridge the digital divide in Washington.

“The BEAD program has played a crucial role in bridging the digital divide and helping us meet our goal to bring internet access to every person across Washington state,” Governor Jay Inslee said in the NITA news release. “Digital connectivity allows communities to tap into job, health care and education opportunities. I am grateful to the NTIA for approving Washington’s initial proposal and I look forward to the Washington State Broadband Office’s continued success in submitting proposals ensuring more Washingtonians and Tribal nations receive internet access.”

Other news: Biden says US won’t supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah, in warning to ally

NITA said the next steps are for Washington to submit a final proposal that includes how the state will ensure universal coverage with BEAD dollars.

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.

And we’re back! At the start of this season, I visited 23 out of the 30 major league stadiums for True Blue LA. The following is my field report from revisiting Washington, D.C., and visiting Toronto, Ontario, Canada for the first time.

Love is the death of duty

Washington, D.C. will always have a soft spot in my heart. D.C. was the place where I accepted the idea of becoming an attorney. Also, for a not-significant portion of my thirties, my final goal was to work, and ultimately, build a life, while serving my country. Needless to say, the above did not happen, but there are no regrets.

It did not happen for want of talent. In fact, even after all the networking I had done in D.C. was undone six weeks after the inauguration of 2017. I did end up getting a couple of offers to work in D.C., which I turned down for various reasons.

The primary reason was that I chose love over duty. Even though said love did not work out, I never regretted that decision to choose love — not once, not ever.

In this spirit, it was odd to return to D.C., which has never been the warmest of cities emotionally. I could have done well there but I certainly would not be writing for True Blue LA had I chosen duty. Plus, this trip is the first one since Dad died. Such was the baggage I carried with me to the ballpark, which melted once I saw this view.

It was fitting to return to the second ballpark I ever visited for which I went to the latter two games of the recent three-game series with the Washington Nationals. Nats Park has started allowing souvenir sodas to be refilled as often as possible during the game with dispensers you use yourself. This fact was also true in Toronto but you had to have someone refill your soda for you. Truly our eastern cousins have much to teach us.

An 11-2 blowout to start the season is always nice, but frankly, it’s generally not memorable, apart from hanging out with the bullpen and seeing Shohei Ohtani be Shohei Ohtani.

The most memorable moment from these games was the shock of Yoshinobu Yamamoto nearly getting his head knocked off from a comebacker. Ironically enough, the Nationals stadium decal commemorating the 2019 World Series victory exploded earlier that game when a foul ball was hit straight back. Truly, this World Series was cursed.

In the half-inning before the comebacker, I wanted to get a snack as I am wont to do. I saw that I was near the 2019 World Series trophy. I decided to have my picture taken with it again before returning to my seat. At the literal exact moment the photo was taken, the comebacker occurred. Sometimes life comes at you fast.

I tried to track down the ball to add to my collection of “cursed” Dodger memorabilia, but unfortunately, the Nationals do not sell specific game-used balls to the public, instead employing a random grab bag element and auctioning off the choice items. C’est la vie.

Poutine on the Ritz

Going to Toronto is something that has been on my radar since the schedule was announced in August 2023. Since my international travels in 2016, I had not been outside the United States before this part of the trip.

Admittedly, Toronto is pretty nice, and had I gone to Canada first all those years ago the culture shock I experienced all those years ago would have been greatly mitigated. As it stands, I found no culture shock being in Toronto to see the Dodgers play.

Toronto is just a more liberal, more French, and more hockey-obsessed version of the United States…where the U.S. Dollar is about 40% stronger than the Canadian dollar. Finding a reasonably priced hotel near Rogers Centre was a challenge. For the life of me, I could not find one and I could not figure out why until I arrived.

Oh — playoff hockey, the damned Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Leafs and their almost sixty years of playoff futility were inflating hotel prices. Describing the ongoing futility of the Leafs is like describing an amalgam of the Chicago Cubs, the Dallas Cowboys, the anti-New York Yankees, and yes, our Los Angeles Dodgers. Let me put it this way, the last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup, Sandy Koufax was still a regular in the Dodgers’ rotation.

All of that newly acquired high-end talent ends up going absolutely AWOL when it matters most. If that last sentence about a hockey team strikes a chord, just file that thought away.

At the time of this trip, the final outcome of the Leafs playoff series was not yet known. (Shocker, they lost.) After all, this franchise once lost to a 42-year-old Zamboni driver…who worked for them a couple of years ago, which merits its own examination but we must move on.

What do I remember about Toronto? Apart from the above, all of the poutine you can eat.

It is not a dirty word, but something regional to eat: fries, gravy, and cheese curds. I had a ridiculous amount while I was up north. The Blue Jays had a signature poutine dog, which oddly was worse than the sum of its parts.

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Michael Elizondo / True Blue LA

What stood out in Toronto was the Blue Jays’ completely unjustified agita towards Shohei Ohtani. 29 teams were always going to be left out of the Ohtani sweepstakes. If the Toronto faithful wanted to be mad at someone, they should be angry with reporter J.P. Hoornstra for getting the reporting wrong that indicated that Ohtani would sign with Toronto.

Needless to say, the Toronto faithful let Ohtani have it throughout the series, starting at the first at-bat. Ohtani quickly responded in kind.

And Twitter being Twitter, this juxtaposition was almost lost to time.

The main feature of Rogers Centre is arguably the Marriott hotel that can be seen overlooking the centerfield of the ballpark. One would imagine that the hotel would be connected to the ballpark; that belief is entirely incorrect as one has to leave the hotel to get to the ballpark.

As rooms go, it’s a gimmick. It’s a fun gimmick; it’s an expensive gimmick (even with the strong American dollar, it’s an expensive gimmick), but considering the humidity issues in Toronto, it was nice to duck back into the hotel halfway through the Sunday finale to have a unique view from my pseudo-skybox.

The problem with this view, apart from having maintenance workers start cleaning the ballpark at midnight and reminding yourself that everyone can literally see you, is that like sitting on the Green Monster in Fenway, you have a pretty big blind spot.

All told, having the Dodgers win four of five was a nice change of pace from my previous adventures, which continue this July in the Motor City. See you then!