ANAHEIM – The story of Keibert Ruiz’s first major league call-up went a lot like the last few months of his professional life: different, but maybe better.
Usually the task of telling a player to pack his bags for Los Angeles falls to the manager of the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate. This year, the novel coronavirus wiped out minor league baseball, so Travis Barbary has spent the last month at the Dodgers’ alternate site camp at USC.
Rather than calling Ruiz into his office in Oklahoma City on Saturday, Barbary called his wife, Raquel, to tell her Ruiz had been added to the Dodgers’ major league roster.
“We’ve all as a family grown close to and developed a good relationship with (Keibert),” Barbary said. “It’s just really cool that I’m close by that I could come in today and watch. I got to see him and tell him we’re all really excited for him, and passing along that my wife and kids were gonna be watching the game today as well. Just seeing the smile on his face was really cool.”
It was the off-season of 2016-17 when Barbary, then the Dodgers’ catching coordinator, first invited Ruiz to live with his family during the winter. The arrangement repeated ever since. More than a roof over his head, Ruiz got a course in American culture, and catching, and training a teenage body for big-league duty – total immersion for the rare Venezuelan in South Carolina.
“I’m very grateful to his family, and to him,” Ruiz said. “It was very exciting when I saw him here today. He’s like my dad. I’m very grateful to his family.”
The switch-hitting catcher ranked as a top-100 prospect each of the last three years. He was promoted to advanced Class-A Rancho Cucamonga 10 days shy of his 19th birthday, in 2017. He moved up a level to Double-A Tulsa in 2018 and batted a respectable .268 with 12 homers. The Dodgers added Ruiz to their 40-man roster after that season to protect him in the Rule 5 draft.
Ruiz split 2019 between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. This year, the absence of minor league games served as a hindrance for many, but not for Ruiz. He debuted Sunday against the Angels at 22 years old, having only played nine games above the Double-A level.
“Without the competing and surviving of the game, (Ruiz) saw growth,” said Ryan Sienko, the Dodgers’ catching coordinator. “From the time they let us start working out at Camelback (Ranch, the Dodgers’ spring training site in Arizona), he was working out 4-to-5 times a week. He stayed here in the States and was working out with our staff. He’s done a lot over the last calendar year of changing everything: his swing, his defense, his body.”
Statkeeping for intrasquad games at USC is a haphazard endeavor, but the anecdotal evidence of Ruiz’s growth is enough to fill a lake. His power stroke from the left side drew rave reviews, aweing onlookers as he swatted balls over the right-field scoreboard. It didn’t need long to manifest in the majors. Ruiz hit a home run in his first at-bat against Julio Teheran.
The moment served as a just reward for Barbary. Dodgers executive Brandon Gomes called to offer him a day off from his duties at USC to share the big day with Ruiz in person – a reversal of the traditional major league call-up.
“He’s a big leaguer now and will always be a big leaguer,” Barbary said. “From this day on, nobody can take that away from him. Just seeing his reaction, it was really special for me just because of the relationship I have with him. This is pretty cool, to be here and watch it.”
TURN IT OVER
As of Sunday, the Dodgers have cycled through their starting rotation four times. Dustin May made his fifth start of the season Sunday; Ross Stripling will do the same Monday against the Mariners.
That means the abbreviated ramp-up to the regular season in summer camp doesn’t loom as an excuse for curtailing a starter’s pitch count or innings limit. That’s a meaningful distinction for the Dodgers. Only four teams wrung more innings out of their starting pitchers a year ago. They averaged 5 ½ innings per start.
Again, 2020 will be different. Manager Dave Roberts is wary of the kind of injuries that have decimated his rivals’ pitching staffs in the early going. Jimmy Nelson, Alex Wood and Clayton Kershaw have all visited the injured list, but the Dodgers have survived their absences with their depth.
The Dodgers have explored the market for back-of-the-rotation starters, too. But Roberts has been content so far to insert Tony Gonsolin in order to give his teammates extra rest.
“We’re still going to manage (starting pitchers) responsibly in our opinion, to not kind of redline them, to continue to use the bullpen for matchups to keep those guys fresh as well,” Roberts said. “You’ve got them all built up to the 6 (innings) and 90 (pitches) threshold, which is a good floor.”
ALSO
Wood (shoulder) played catch Saturday and was slated to throw a bullpen Sunday, Roberts said. … The Dodgers joined all major league teams in wearing a patch to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Negro National League’s founding. “We’re continuing to try to get people of color in this game, back in this game, to make this game as special and diverse as we possibly can,” said Roberts, who is the first African-American and Asian-American manager in franchise history. “This is a step in the right direction.”
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