Dodger catchers crushing home runs up and down the system

Phil Gurnee ♦ April 16, 2018 ♦ 1 Comment

Starting on Saturday, the Dodger catching prospects and now the Dodger catcher have been on a home run tear mashing seven home runs in just five games.

It all started innocently enough when Connor Wong hit a home run on Friday the 13th.  Connor is the starting catcher for the Rancho Cucamonga in A+ ball. Will Smith blasted a home run on Saturday Night. Will shares time with Keibert Ruiz in AA.  On Sunday, Connor Wong blasted two more home runs.  It culminated today and tonight with Keibert Ruiz hitting two home runs for Tulsa. These were the first two home runs of the year for Keibert who had been in a one for twenty slump before the blasts. Yazmani Grandal capped it off with a grand slam tonight against the Padres.

It isn’t all about home runs.

Will Smith is hitting .364 while splitting time between catching and DH. His OBP is .476. There is a reason why some pundits feel he is the best catching prospect in the system.

With his two home run today, Keibert Ruiz will try to get back on the hot streak he was having before the start of last week. Keibert started last week hitting .385 and ended the week hitting .200 as he went 2 for 22.

Keibert Ruiz is showing off his 💪 for @TulsaDrillers. The #Dodgers No. 3 prospect is 2-for-3 with two homers and four RBIs through five innings.

Here’s how all @Dodgers‘ prospects are performing today: https://t.co/Yjo3eyBFMN pic.twitter.com/tWj8Us5jKv

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 16, 2018

Of course, Keibert had this great game right after I tweeted this in the morning.

Actually, Keibert got a hit on Sunday so make that 2 for 22 for the week with zero walks. He has zero walks in 2018. I’m not sure why he is in AA and It is possible the Dodgers rushed him. I’d be curious why they felt a 19-year-old needed to be in AA. What’s the hurry?

— Phil Gurnee (@meercatjohn) April 16, 2018

Connor Wong leads the California League in home runs with five and has a slug% of .825. Wong at this point last year was still playing college ball. Connor was named the catcher on the MLB Pipeline prospect team of the week.

C: Connor Wong, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Class A Advanced)
(Dodgers’ No. 15 prospect)
.361/.439/.889, 9 G ,13 R, 13 H, 4 2B, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 17 K, 2 SB, 1 CS

It took Wong just nine games to match his home run total from 2017, his pro debut. He homered in each of his first two games and twice on Sunday, when he showed off his athleticism and versatility by playing second base. Wong is tied with Colton Welker (see below) for the Minor League lead in runs, and he sits atop the California League in homers, extra-base hits (nine), totals bases (32), slugging percentage and RBIs.

Yazmani Grandal is letting them all know, the big league gig is his, and he plans on keeping it.