LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired catcher Carlos Ruiz and cash considerations from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for catcher A.J. Ellis, minor league pitcher Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Ruiz, 37, has played in more than 1,000 games for the Phillies after being signed by the club as an amateur free agent in 1998. The native of Venezuela made his Philadelphia debut in 2006 and has been a Phillies' fixture behind the plate ever since, hitting .266 with 68 home runs, 401 RBI and 213 doubles in 1,069 career games. Ruiz made nine career Opening Day starts for the Phillies (2008-12, 2014-16) and was a part of five National League East Division championships (2007-11), two National League pennants (2008-09), and one World Series Championship (2008). In 11 career World Series games, Ruiz has a .353 (12-34) average with a .488 OBP, 1.194 OPS, 4 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI and 6 R in 43 plate appearances.
This season, Ruiz is batting .261 with three homers and 12 RBI in 48 games, but has been hot of late, hitting .340 (16-for-47) since the All-Star break.
The 2012 All-Star owns the highest career fielding percentage among all qualifying catchers in Phillies' franchise history (.994) and ranks fourth in in games caught (1,029), trailing only Mike Lieberthal (1,139), Red Dooin (1,124) and Bob Boone (1,095). He is one of only two catchers in Major League history, along with Jason Varitek, to have caught four separate no-hitters (two by Roy Halladay, one by Cole Hamels and one combined).
He struck out only 456 times in 3,884 career plate appearances, giving him the fifth-best strikeout rate (8.52 PA/SO) among all active major league players over that span behind Albert Pujols (11.13), Yadier Molina (10.49), Jose Reyes (9.98) and Martin Prado (9.22).
Ellis appeared in 544 games for the Dodgers from 2008-16, becoming a full-time player in 2012 and posting his best season that year, hitting .270 with 13 homers and 52 RBI. He hit .237 with 36 homers and 161 RBI in his Dodger career, which was highlighted by his .365 average (19-for-52) in 17 postseason games.
Bergjans spent the year at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he was 3-13 with 4.98 ERA in 24 games (21 starts). Bergjans was originally selected by the Dodgers in the eighth round of the 2015 First-Year Player draft out of Haverford College (PA).