Friday, August 26, 2016

Welcome to the Dodgers, Shawn Zarraga!


Among all of the hoopla surrounding the Ellis for Ruiz trade one name kind of got lost in it all.  Shawn Zarraga, a nine year minor league veteran catcher, was called up from Oklahoma City to fill in as the backup catcher for the Dodgers.  His promotion, although likely just a brief cup-of-coffee, marked his debut in a Major League dugout.  Per a Dodger press release:
Zarraga, who is making his first-career appearance on a big-league roster, batted a combined .265 (30-for-113) with a .348 on-base percentage, seven doubles and 14 RBI in 41 games with the OKC Dodgers and Double-A Tulsa this season. In nine minor league seasons, the switch-hitting backstop hit .282 with a .371 on-base percentage, 84 doubles, 14 home runs and 199 RBI. The 27-year-old Aruba native was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade with the Brewers on December 17, 2014 and was originally selected by Milwaukee in the 44th round in 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Trinity Christian Academy in Lake Worth, Florida.
Since the trade happened so quickly and unexpectedly Zarraga couldn't quite get to Los Angeles in time for the start of the game.  He had to fly on a private jet to Burbank, sat on the plane next to the pilot and arrived at Dodger Stadium by the fourth inning.  He then immediately called the place home. 
No doubt he loved every second of his first trip to the "BIGS".   Unfortunately, he never got into last nights game, but maybe he'll have a chance to do that later today (if he doesn't get sent back to Triple-A when Ruiz arrives).

Something of note, Zarraga is from Aruba, and thus a citizen of the Netherlands.  His addition to the team means we now have two Netherlanders on the team - the other being Kenley Jansen. 

In celebration of Zarraga's arrival to Los Angeles I made the above fantasy card for him.  I used a photograph taken by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015 and the 1953 Topps Baseball card design.  Of note, I realize that the template for the 1953 Topps Baseball card design isn't exactly right, but it's all I got.

Check out his career stats via Baseball-Reference below:


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