Keibert Ruiz

BIOGRAPHY

Keibert Ruiz was born on born July 20, 1998, in Valencia, Velenzuela. He is a catcher in the MLB.

Ruiz was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent in 2014 for $140,000. He made his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Dodgers in 2015 and in his first professional season, he batted .300 with eight doubles, a triple, a homer and 19 RBI in 44 games with the Rookie-level DSL Dodgers. In 2016, Ruiz combined to slash .374/.412/.527 with 22 doubles, two homers and 48 RBI in 56 games with the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers and Rookie-advanced Ogden. He was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star. He began the 2016 season with the AZL Dodgers, where he went 16-for-33 with four doubles, a triple and 15 RBI in eight games. He was promoted to Ogden on July 2, where he ranked 4th among the Pioneer League leaders in average (.354), 8th on OBP (.393) and 12 on SLG (.503) in 48 games.

In 2017, the Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year had a stellar season with Single-A Great Lakes and Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, slashing .316/.361/.452 with 58 runs, 23 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 51 RBI in 101 combined games. Ruiz appeared in a combined 86 games at catcher, posting a .992 fielding percentage and throwing out 29% of would-be base stealers. He began the season with Great Lakes, hitting .317 with 34 runs, 16 doubles, one triple, two homers and 24 RBI along with a .372 on-base percentage in 63 games. Ruiz was selected as Midwest League mid-season All-Star and Baseball America's Low Class A All-Star. He was then promoted to Rancho Cucamonga on July 9 and finished the season with the Quakes, slashing .315/.344/.497 with seven doubles, one triple, six homers and 27 RBI in 38 games. As a left-handed hitter, he posted a combined .344 average, compared to a .240 mark as a righty…with runners in scoring position he hit for a combined .359 average.

In the 2018 season, Ruiz earned selections to the MLB All-Star Futures Game and as a mid-season Texas League All-Star, appearing in 101 games for Tulsa, slashing .268/.328/.401 with 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 47 RBI. He appeared in 86 games at catcher for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, posting a .995 fielding percentage and throwing out 26% of would-be base stealers. He batted .303 with two homers and eight RBI in eight postseason games to help lead Tulsa to the Texas League title. He laced a 10th-inning, walk-off single in Game 1 of the Texas League championship series. Ruiz was also named to the Arizona Fall League's All-Prospect Team and participated in the 2018 Fall Stars Game after appearing in 13 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs, slashing .286/.357/.306. On November 20, 2018, Ruiz was added to the Dodgers' 40-man roster.

On July 30, 2021, the Dodgers traded Ruiz, Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey, and Gerardo Carrillo to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. Ruiz homered in his debut as a member of the Nationals organization on August 3, 2021 for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. Ruiz was called back up to the Majors on August 30 and made his Nationals debut the same day, going 1-4 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He would finish the season with a .272/.333/.409 slash line with 3 home runs in 96 plate appearances at the MLB level with the Dodgers and the Nationals.

On March 11, 2023, the Nationals announced that Ruiz had signed an eight-year contract extension. The contract, reportedly worth $50 million, ran through 2030, covering his last five seasons of club control and first three years of free agency, and included one-year club options for 2031 and 2032.