Keibert Ruiz is just another one of the top Dodgers prospects over the last several seasons brings his game to the big leagues. He’s a divisive player in scouting circles that’s seen his prospect star fade a little as his body has softened. With the recent injury to Will Smith, Keibert may be thrust into a part time role behind the plate, splitting reps with Austin Barnes. Let’s dig into Keibert’s tools and why he could have an impact in the shortened season.
THE RANKINGS
Keibert ranked 4th on the Los Angeles Dodgers Top 30 list and 281 in our Top 500 Fantasy list.
THE TOOLS
Hit (55 present/60 future): Keibert is a switch hitter with a high contact approach, but his lack of impact at the point of contact deters the overall grade on the hit tool for me. It’s one thing to show the ability to get your bat on anything, it’s another to get your bat on everything with an above average level of impact. The numbers back these statements too, a 92% contact rate in Double-A the past two seasons, and a .111 isolated slugging, below average estimated fly ball distance, and a below average hard hit rate. As a switch hitter, Ruiz’s two swings are markedly different, with his left handed swing optimized for power, while his right handed swing is linear and geared toward contact. Despite the knocks, based on Ruiz’s ability to make contact a .275-.285 average is possible in the short term, while .285-.300 upside is a possibility at peak.
Power (30 game/40 raw): There’s some power in the left handed swing but it’s still below average, as his unique, almost Japanese style setup from the left, is geared more toward line drives and hard groundball contact than fly balls with loft. In his peak seasons I expect Ruiz to teeter somewhere around 9-12 home runs over a full season. Without significant changes to his setup and bat path Ruiz will likely be a below average provider of power production even at peak.
Defense (50/55): There’s been some debate as to just how good Ruiz’s defense is and a majority of my contacts have not seen Ruiz in the last year. Two years ago Ruiz’s receiving was strong, he looked comfortable in the crouch and athletic moving side to side as he employed the Tony Pena catching style popularized by Mitch Garver over the last year. He’s excellent receiving the lower part of the zone, and doesn’t struggle with spiked breakers. His ability to control that lower half makes him a strong pairing for Dustin May, who have worked together to great results in the past. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me if he ends up May’s personal catcher in the short and long term. The arm shows strength and the pop-times have been steadily average to slightly above. His long term outlook is hindered slightly by his below average physique.
Speed (20/20): You won’t be seeing Ruiz stealing too many bases that aren’t handed to him, he is a classic big bodied catcher and station to station runner with bottom of the scale running ability.
Prediction: Ruiz is likely up for as long as Will Smith is on the IL. There’s an outside chance Austin Barnes is replaced this year, but I wouldn’t bank on it. Long term I anticipate Ruiz ends up on the short side of a platoon with Smith, but each have split time in the past throughout their time in the minors, and there’s a slight chance Ruiz and Smith see some time in the infield. That’d be keeping with the Dodgers’ desire for positional flexibility for all their position players, but certainly their catchers. Offensively I’d anticipate an empty average with low power output, a bottom of the order style bat, that production wise comps well to Francisco Cervelli.
Fantasy Impact: It’s a catcher in fantasy, if they have a pulse and won’t tank your average they’re probably worth a flier in two catcher leagues. In single catcher leagues, he’s only a flier in 16+ team formats.