The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Keibert Ruiz on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, per the club’s transactions page. Ruiz is part of the 60-man player pool but has yet to report to Summer Camp at Dodger Stadium for an undisclosed reason.
It also is unclear why the Dodgers’ top catching prospect was placed on the IL. The same applied to Pedro Baez, who per transaction listings, was activated off the injured list Monday. That coincided with Baez’s first day joining the Dodgers in Summer Camp.
With respect to privacy laws, the team has needed to work a balancing act when discussing which players were absent. When asked bout Ruiz, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he could not disclose the reason for the move.
Scott Alexander, Baez and AJ Pollock reporting earlier this week left Ruiz as the lone member of the Dodgers’ 40-man roster who was unaccounted for.
Ruiz had a subpar offensive season in 2019, hitting .261/.331/.347 with six home runs and 34 RBI in 85 games between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. His year came to an early end because of a broken finger suffered last August.
The Dodgers added Ruiz to their 40-man roster during the offseason, which meant a spot in big league camp for Spring Training. However, he was delayed with making his 2020 debut in Cactus League play.
“He’s been working on a little bit of a swing change. Not necessarily an overhaul, but just trying to clean some things up,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained to DodgerBlue.com in February.
“I just wanted him to really focus on the practice and mechanics of it before getting him into a game, where most players revert back to what they’re used to. Tried to get him some type of traction with the change he’s working on. It’s more of just trying to get his path to the ball a little bit not just underneath.
“He kind of collapses, so there are some things we’ve been doing with his body and understanding how to attack the hitting zone the right way. He understands what we’re trying to do and he’ll get plenty of at-bats.”
Dodgers’ only known positive test
As the Dodgers progressed through the early days of Summer Camp, it became clear who wasn’t participating in workouts or intrasquad games at Dodger Stadium.
The group swelled to include Alexander, Baez, Tony Gonsolin, Kenley Jansen, Gavin Lux, Pollock and Ruiz. Of those who are now present, only Jansen has addressed the media.
He revealed his absence was due to testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) three weeks ago. “I’m doing great. I’m doing better now,” Jansen said.
“I was talking to the training staff and wanted to keep it private and not be a distraction. I was feeling better on the fourth day I had it, almost three weeks ago now. I just wanted to stay positive and not put it out there that I got the virus.”
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