February 26th, 2021 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka When Dodgers pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training on February 17, there was one guy (very) noticeably missing – 22-year-old catcher Keibert Ruiz.
“Keibert’s not here. He got hung up with his visa, so we’re working on getting him here,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts of the Valencia, Venezuela native during his first Zoom media conference of the Spring on February 18.
That was over a week ago and still no Ruiz.
On Thursday, Roberts was asked who is filling in for the highly-ranked Dodgers prospect, who was expected to be the team’s number-three catcher behind 31-year-old Austin Barnes and 25-year-old Will Smith.
“[Tim] Federowicz,” Roberts answered. “We kind of moved him over there. He’s getting more repetitions over in the bullpen with some of the guys we’ll see this year. We’re still expecting Keibert to arrive. Don’t know when.”
Not good … unless you’re Tim Federowicz, that is.
The Dodgers re-acquired the Erie, PA native and seventh-round draft pick in 2008 by the Boston Red Sox out of the University of North Carolina on December 16, 2020, as a free agent, signing him to a minor-league deal with an invitation to major league camp.
Dodgers fans may recall that ‘FedEx’ (as he is affectionately known) spent four seasons as the Dodgers backup catcher to beloved backstop A.J. Ellis. During that time, Federowicz appeared in a combined 89 games, posting a mediocre .237/.340/.348/.688 slash line, with a combined five home runs and 22 RBI. Behind the plate, he had a combined .985 fielding percentage. He also appeared in two games as the Dodgers first baseman.
(Photo credit – Richard Mackson)
Although the sample size is ridiculously small, Ruiz went 2-for-8 (.250) in the two games in which he appeared with the Dodgers in 2020. Ironically, one of those two hits was a solo home run on August 16 off of Angels right-hander Julio Teheran in his first major league at-bat.
(Photo credit – David J. Phillip)
Although Roberts is “…still expecting Keibert to arrive,” he will be required to undergo ‘COVID-19 Intake Protocols’ if and when he does. He will also have to make up for considerable lost time, especially with the bevy of new pitchers the Dodgers acquired during the offseason. As such, and even under the best-case scenario (such as arriving within the next few days), it is doubtful that he would break camp on the Dodgers 26-man Opening Day roster. He will, however, undoubtedly remain on the so-called ‘Travel Team’ at their alternate training site, which, according to Roberts, will either be at Camelback Ranch or LoanMart Field – home of the Dodgers (now) Low-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Stay tuned…
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So how does this happen. He’s a baseball player. He’s been here before. Did he wait until the day before to apply. Doesn’t the team help him out.
Hope I am wrong, but this seems like the actions of an immature young man who knows/believes that he will be playing in OKC instead of LA and not motivated to get to Camelback on time. He may be hoping to be traded rather than playing at Triple-A another season.