Yesterday it was announced that Aruban Catcher, Shawn Zarraga, got an invitation for the Dodgers’ Spring Training camp at the Camelback Ranch in Arizona.
Zarraga split the 2015 season between AA Tulsa and AAA Oklahoma City. In the 2014-2015 off season he was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers, where he played most of the time for their AA franchise Huntsville (now Biloxi).
In 2015, Zarraga played 44 games with the Tulsa Drillers and hit .277. He threw out almost 32% of the potential base stealers. With the Oklahoma City Dodgers Zarraga mainly served as back up catcher regarding the number of games that he played: 18. In those games he hit a surprising .303. Suprising because when he spent time with the Brewers AAA affiliate Nashville (now Colorado Springs), he struggled at the plate with an average of .213. With OKC he threw out only 17% of the wannabe base stealers.
After the 2015 season, Shawn became a minor league free agent, but the Dodgers did not hesitate and signed him to another contract in November.
Zarraga will be one of sixteen non-roster invitees (so far) for the Dodgers’ Spring Training camp. Shawn is one of four Dutchie minor leaguers that were invited for Spring Training, next to Juan Carlos Sulbaran (Cardinals), Carlton Daal (Reds) and Ozhaino Albies (Braves).
Recently, Shawn Zarraga joined team Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Permier 12 tournament. He wasn’t quite lucky during the tournament as he got injured as his wrist was hit by a ball. He hit only .200 but slugged .400 with seven RBI.
In 2014, Shawn was a valuable part of the Dutch National team with the European Cup. In five games he hit .667 and slugged .867 with seven RBI, one homerun and five runs scored. Thanks to him and others of course, the Dutch team brought the European title back home.
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