Keibert Ruiz Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects
TRACK RECORD: Ruiz trained at the academy run by former all-star shortstop Carlos Guillen in Venezuela as an amateur and signed with the Dodgers for $140,000 when he turned 16. He was known for his defense when he signed, but his offense quickly became his calling card. Ruiz hit .300 or better at each of his first four stops and zoomed up the minors to play a full season at Double-A at age 19 in 2018, when he ranked as the Texas League’s No. 3 prospect. He hit his first speed bump in 2019 when an organizational catching logjam forced him back to Double-A, and he struggled to stay motivated. He looked re-energized after a promotion to Triple-A, but suffered a season-ending injury when a foul tip fractured his right pinkie finger. Ruiz rode out the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 at the Dodgers’ complex in Arizona, where he improved his physique and worked extensively with Dodgers hitting coach Brant Brown. Ruiz contracted Covid-19 and arrived late to summer camp, but he recovered to make his major league debut on Aug. 16 and homered in his first at-bat.
SCOUTING REPORT: The switch-hitting Ruiz has a preternatural ability to put the bat on the ball. He has elite hand-eye coordination, can manipulate the barrel to cover all parts of the strike zone and rarely swings and misses. Those traits have long given Ruiz the potential to be a plus hitter, but his quality of contact was often lacking. The Dodgers made adjustments in 2020 to get him more upright in his stance and keep his hands closer to his body, and the result was a more direct path that helped him stay inside the ball and produce consistently harder contact. Ruiz is much stronger batting lefthanded and shows average power from that side. His righthanded swing is visually similar but lacks strength and largely produces weak contact. Ruiz is an aggressive hitter who is still learning to pick out pitches he can drive rather than swinging at the first pitch near the strike zone. Once he improves his pitch selection, he has a chance to hit .280 or higher with double-digit home runs. Ruiz is a potentially above-average receiver who blocks well and received positive reviews from the big leaguers who threw to him at the alternate training site. His game-planning and game-calling still have room to grow. Ruiz’s arm strength is fringy to average, which was an issue in the majors when opponents went 3-for-3 on stolen bases against him in just 17 innings.
THE FUTURE: With Will Smith entrenched at catcher, the best Ruiz can hope for is a timeshare with the Dodgers. His offensive abilities and improving defensive skills would make him the catcher of the future for many other teams.
