As most Dodger fans know, highly touted 22-year-old Dodgers catching prospect Keibert Ruiz did not report for Spring Training 2021 when pitchers and catchers were due on February 17.

…or on February 18.

Or on February 22, when position players reported.

…or on February 23.

As it turns out, during his first official Zoom press conference of the Spring back on February 17, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Ruiz had encountered “visa issues” while trying to get from his home in Valencia, Venezuela to the United States and ultimately to Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.

Before long, days turned into weeks and still no Ruiz. In fact, it got to the point where reporters stopped asking about him.

…until Saturday morning.

Near the end of his morning briefing on Saturday, one reporter asked the Dodger skipper if Ruiz’s ship had sailed and the team was moving on without him. Roberts’ answer caught everyone by surprise … including and especially the reporter who had asked the question (a clue).

“He’s actually … I think he’s in the state of Arizona now,” Roberts answered. “And so now he’s got to go through some intake testing. I know he’s kept himself in really good shape, so getting him back to the facility after the intake testing, getting kind of his feet wet.

“So I really feel really comfortable at some point soon getting him into a game. So hopefully, by the end of next week, he’ll be in a major league game,” Roberts added.

There is no disputing that this is great news for the Dodgers and their fans, but it comes with a huge caveat. Spring Training is about to enter its fourth week, and there are a lot of pitchers in camp – both starters and relievers – who the young backstop has never seen before, let alone caught. Simply put, he has a lot of catching up to do before Opening Day 2021 on April 1; and that clock doesn’t even begin until he clears the COVID-19 intake process.

All of this said, it’s great that Ruiz is now (almost) in camp, and it is impossible to believe that he will not be called up to The Show at some point during the 2021 season.

Play Ball!

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