Last season the Los Angeles Dodgers made the surprising decision to trade A.J. Ellis to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for fellow backup catcher Carlos Ruiz. At the time, Ellis was the longest-tenured player in the Dodgers organization at 13 years.
He’d garnered the respect of teammates and coaches and was particularly close to Clayton Kershaw. In his final interview from the Dodgers dugout, Ellis touched on the difficult nature in needing to say goodbye to not only teammates but friends.
After playing out the 2016 season with the Phillies, he signed with the Miami Marlins during the offseason. It reunited Ellis with Lorenzo Bundy, Don Mattingly and Tim Wallach, all of whom were with the Dodgers during some of Ellis’ same years.
While they remain on the periphery, Miami is in the hunt for the National League Wild Card Game. Ellis recently appeared on MLB Network’s ‘Intentional Talk,’ where he discussed the Marlins’ playoff hope, among other topics.
At around the 1:40 mark, Ellis was asked about a potential postseason matchup against Kershaw and the Dodgers, which prompted him to joke about rushing the mound:
.@AJEllis17 (dressed as @Giancarlo818) joined @Kmillar15 and @ChrisRose! #ITMojo
Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/b3Kk4OOFsH pic.twitter.com/of0JpcydSc
— Intentional Talk (@IntentionalTalk) August 29, 2017
While he once held a starting job, then a platoon role, Ellis has seen his playing time significantly decrease in recent seasons. He’s appeared in just 40 games this season, making 29 starts and batting .212/.310/.354 with four doubles, four home runs and nine RBIs.
In order for Ellis and the Marlins to possibly face Kershaw and the Dodgers in the playoffs, they presumably would need to reach the Wild Card Game and defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach the NL Division Series.
