Hot prospect Ruiz is Nationals’ cream of crop
Catcher from Dodgers system nearly ripe
ROCHESTER, N.Y. • Five hours before first pitch, in that patch of quiet between a sleeping stadium and wallto-wall activity, Keibert Ruiz dug into the batter’s box, crushed some dirt with his heel and swung.
No pitcher was on the mound. No other player was on the diamond at Frontier Field, home of the Nationals’ Triple-a affiliate in Rochester. No one but Ruiz, a 23-year-old catcher, a player who, after arriving from the Los Angeles Dodgers this week, is already at the centre of the Washington Nationals’ rebuild. Once he was traded in a package for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, Ruiz flew from Austin to Chicago to upstate New York, settling at a downtown Holiday Inn. He brought his wife and infant son. And he carried expectations, mile by mile, the top prospect netted by the Nationals’ deadline fire sale.
So when he walked to the plate Tuesday, when there were no sounds save a mower and trucks on the highway, Ruiz looked relaxed — at peace, even. His first cut was slow and deliberate, as if he were swinging underwater. But the next was fast, whipping from behind his left ear to above his right shoulder, shattering a make-believe baseball toward the small-city skyline.
There was a smile at the end of that vision. Perhaps relief, too.
“I wanted to get in there and just take a deep breath,” Ruiz said before his debut with the Rochester Red Wings. “Of course, there is pressure in all this. Being traded for Max Scherzer, guy is going to be in the Hall of Fame one day, I know that.
“But you know what? I also plan to be pretty good.”
He’s modest, then, among other traits. He often speaks with a shy grin. On Tuesday, he introduced himself as “Ruiz!” because he felt that Keibert — pronounced kayber — could be hard for a non-spanish speaker.
Ruiz is considerate like that. He just wants to fit in. In the lines, though, where he’s always felt most comfortable, ever since 50 kids would try to play on the same tiny field in Venezuela, Ruiz is used to being different.
He was the best prospect in the Dodgers’ system.
Before he debuted in Rochester on Tuesday, he lined a 107-mph solo shot, threw out a runner at second and brought his detailed approach to a struggling pitching staff, he had 16 homers, 23 walks, 27 strikeouts and a 1.012 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in Triple-a. He is a switch hitter with more power from the left side.
Says Aaron Barrett, a Red Wings reliever, while Ruiz threw in the outfield Tuesday: “I hear he’s legit. Like, really, really damn special.”