FFA Winner for Week of July 17th – July 23rd

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 24, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

The contenders are……

Wilmer Font – OKC – The starting pitcher in the PCL All-Star game twirled a gem last week going seven innings, giving up seven hits, two earned runs, one walk, and eleven strikeouts.  In his last ten starts Font has only walked more than two hitters once as he has displayed an excellent ability to limit the free pass while leading the PCL in strikeouts.

Oneil Cruz  – Great Lake Loons  – Cruz had the game of his professional career collecting five hits. Over three games Cruz had two home runs and eight hits. A week, however, is seven days and over the final three games of the week, he went 1 for 12 with six strikeouts.  Still, it was good to see the 18-year-old put the wood on the ball for a few games.  He is on pace for a 30 error season as he splits time between SS and 3rd base.

Keibert Ruiz – Rancho – What more could you ask of a prospect? Keibert turned 19 last week and celebrated with his biggest offensive week of the season. Ruiz hit two three run home runs including a walk off blast.  Keibert only started four games but had a hit in every game, collecting seven hits overall. He drove in an astounding nine runs with those seven hits while only striking out twice in seventeen plate appearances. The only negative was the zero walks last week.  In nine games with Rancho, Keibert now has a 1.199 OPS.

Jeren Kendell – Ogden – Kendall started his professional career last week and got off to a rousing start. He only played four games but made the most of it. Jeren had seven hits in seventeen at-bats and stole four bases.  Zero walks stand out but he did strike out only three times, and strike outs were his big problem in college.  Jeren is already 21 so if he doesn’t have his way in the Pioneer League something is amiss.

Starling Heredia – Ogden – Starling started out the week strong but faltered on the back end. He collected six hits in first three games but only one over his last two. Though he did walk three times in the last two games.

You knew where this was going as soon as you saw Keibert Ruiz on the contender list.

The Farm Factory Award Winner for the week of July 17th – July 23rd is once again Keibert Ruiz.

Several hours after I wrote this, Fangraphs weighed in with a quick update on Keibert.

Keibert Ruiz, C, Dodgers: The Dodgers boast a system that has three or four catching prospects that should play at the big league level. If I’m a team doing a deal with the Dodgers at the trade deadline, I’m asking for Ruiz. He’s done nothing but hit as a pro and, as a 19 year old, had a line of .317/.372/.423 through 63 games in low-A. That earned him a recent promotion to high-A ball where he’s produced another 12 hits — and six extra base knocks — in just eight games. Ruiz is also a switch-hitter who shows solid skills from both sides. He has a chance to be an impact hitter at the catcher’s position and his defence will be average or better at the big league level.