When it comes to finding players to add to your dynasty team, the easy thing to do is just look at the pedigree of a player and add him or trade for him, thinking he will eventually come around if he is underperforming or stay the course if playing as expected.
But sometimes (many times?) the highly touted prospects never live up to the hype while the under-the-radar players seemingly come from out of nowhere to become stars. Today we are going to look at two catchers who may or may not fit into that category by the end of their careers or even this season but currently appear to be on one of those tracks.
The Players
Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz has been one of baseball’s top catching prospects since coming to the United States from Venezuela. Signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent, Keibert started the 2018 season as the 40th best prospect by Baseball America and was ranked 20th, 81st, 53rd and 11th ahead of the 2019-2022 seasons. MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus also had him ranked in the top 100 from 2018-2022.
Meanwhile, when the 2018 MLB draft rolled around, many experts believed Logan O’Hoppe was going to go play for East Carolina, the school where his father and uncle attended. But the Philadelphia Phillies liked what they saw in O’Hoppe and drafted him in the 23rd round and signed him for an above-slot bonus of $215,000.
Despite starting his pro career later that summer, it wasn’t until this year that O’Hoppe showed up in any top 100 prospect lists. Baseball American ranked him 42nd before the start of this season while MLB.com ranked him at No. 53 and Baseball Prospectus ranked him at No. 77.
As a whole, Ruiz has always been the prized catcher to try to nab for your dynasty team while O’Hoppe is the player seemingly coming out of the woodwork and now getting noticed by fantasy players. But should Ruiz be the player you really want, or should you instead go after O’Hoppe?
Keibert Ruiz
| YEAR | TEAM | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-21 | Minors | 459 | 1,723 | 50 | 258 | .301 | .356 | .453 |
| 2020 | LAD | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .250 | .625 |
| 2021 | LAD/WSH | 29 | 88 | 3 | 15 | .273 | .333 | .409 |
| 2022 | WSH | 112 | 394 | 7 | 36 | .251 | .313 | .360 |
| 2023 | WSH | 11 | 41 | 1 | 3 | .220 | .319 | .341 |
| MLB Career | 154 | 531 | 12 | 55 | .252 | .316 | .371 |
Born to Hit
Ruiz signed with the Dodgers in 2014 and started his professional career in 2015 with the Dodgers’ Dominican Summer League team, where he slashed .300/.340/.387. He then debuted in the U.S. in 2016 and by 2018 he was playing in Double-A at the age of 19.
But his quick rise slowed, and he eventually saw Will Smith pass him on the organizational depth chart and become the catcher for the Dodgers, leading Los Angeles to trade him to the Nationals in 2021 as part of the Max Scherzer-Trea Turner deal.
Contact is the Name of the Game
What Ruiz does well is put the ball in play. In the minors, he had a 9.6% strikeout rate and in the majors, it is 11.6% (MLB average is 22.9%). A switch hitter, he puts the ball into play all over the field, as you can see from his 2022 hitting chart. His ability to put the ball into play allowed him to post a .301 career average in the minors with a .356 OBP.
However, Ruiz is not going to be confused with Eduardo Perez when it comes to hitting for power from the catcher’s position. Instead, you see a lot of hits like this from Ruiz. He hit a home run once every 34.5 at-bats during his minor league career. With the Dodgers and Nationals, he has a 2.1% home run percentage, way below the MLB average of 3.1%. When he does hit a home run, it is going to be from the left side of the plate, where he has much more power.
But that power will not show up too often. Last season, he was below average in average EV, Hard Hit%, Barrel%, and even Walk%. This season isn’t any different as he ranks in the 11th percentile in average EV and 10th percentile in Hard Hit%.
Logan O’Hoppe
| YEAR | TEAM | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-22 | Minors | 287 | 1,024 | 50 | 183 | .276 | .362 | .488 |
| 2022 | LAA | 5 | 14 | 0 | 2 | .286 | .375 | .286 |
| 2023 | LAA | 10 | 35 | 4 | 11 | .257 | .308 | .629 |
| MLB Career | 15 | 49 | 4 | 13 | .265 | .327 | .531 |
Rocketing through the Minors…
After signing, it didn’t take long for O’Hoppe to reward the Phillies scouts who wanted him in their organization. Sent to Rookie ball, O’Hoppe slashed .367/.411/.532 with two homers and 21 RBI in 34 games. While he struggled a bit at the plate in Low-A ball in 2019, slashing .216/.266/.407, he did hit five home runs and drive in 26 runs in 45 games.
The young catcher spent the 2020 season in Philadelphia’s alternate, and he obviously learned how to tap into his power while there. In 2021 he shot through three levels in the Phillies system. At High-A he slashed .270/.335/.459 with 13 homers and 48 RBI in 85 games, earning a promotion to Double-A. There he slashed .296/.333/.482 and hit three home runs and drove in seven in 13 games before moving on to Triple-A for six games.
…And Hitting Bombs
During his minor league career, O’Hoppe hit a home run every 20.5 at-bats. But that rate was once every 38.7 at-bats before 2021 to once every 17.5 at-bats since 2021.
O’Hoppe started the 2022 season in Double-A and proceeded to hit 15 dingers with 45 RBI in 75 games while slashing .275/.392/.496, earning himself a spot in the Futures Game. O’Hoppe was then traded to the Angels at the trade deadline, but his new environment at Double-A Rocket City didn’t faze him as he slashed .306/.473/.674 with 11 homers and 33 RBI in 29 games to earn a promotion to the majors.
The Verdict
What Others Think
Over in ESPN land, Ruiz is rostered in 62% of leagues. But over the past week that is a 6.8% drop. Meanwhile, O’Hoppe is now rostered in 44.9% of ESPN leagues, an increase of 31% over the last seven days. In the world of Yahoo fantasy baseball, the two players are close to roster percentage, with Ruiz rostered in 55% of leagues and O’Hoppe 53%.
So right now, overall, Ruiz is the more popular catcher based on their roster percentage rates.
What I think
Ruiz has been a top prospect since signing with the Dodgers and it is obvious the Nationals love him as he was part of that big trade with LA and Washington then signed Ruiz to an eight-year contract extension ahead of this season worth $50 million.
However, unlike the Nationals, I am not enthralled by Ruiz. In his first full season last year, he hit only seven homers and drove in 36 runs in 112 games, and posted an OPS+ of 95. OK, so he doesn’t strike out. Fantastic. He is a solid catcher behind the plate – who cares? Defense doesn’t matter in the fantasy world and I think he is an average hitter who may hit a few homers here and there while not killing your batting average or OBP. That’s about it.
Give Me O’Hoppe
If I’m looking for a young catcher to add, I’m looking at O’Hoppe. While O’Hoppe didn’t get a lot of playing time with the Angels last year, he did appear in five games and slashed .286/.375/.286 in 14 at-bats.
There was doubt about what role O’Hoppe was going to have with the Angles this season. However, with Max Stassi, who was the starter last season, sidelined with an injury, O’Hoppe has taken advantage of his opportunity to show what he can do and is likely not going to give Stassi a chance to reclaim the starter’s role.
So far this season he has been mashing at the plate. Through Thursday, he has four homers and 13 RBI in 15 games with a very solid slash line of .257/.308/.629. While very, very early in the season, as you can see from his Percentile Rankings, O’Hoppe has a lot of red dots under the hitting categories, though he does have a 30.8 strikeout rate at the moment, but that will likely decrease and become closer to his 19% rate he had in the minors.
O’Hoppe looks like an offense-first catcher, a rarity at the position in recent years. If you can add him, do so.
Thanks for reading and come back next week.
