A week after the independent Cleburne RailRoaders released Aruban catcher Shawn Zarraga, he has been picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the club he played for in 2015 and 2016.
With the RailRoaders of the American Association, Zarraga collected 37 hits in 136 at-bats (.272), hit three home runs, eight doubles and drove in seventeen RBI. In sixteen games behind the dish, Shawn did not commit an error but only threw out one of the seven potential base stealers (13%).
Only a week after the RailRoaders relased him, the Dodgers re-signed the 28-year old Aruban and sent him outright to Tulsa where he joined the Drillers (AA Texas League).
Since the Drillers are dealing with the injury bug as four of their five catchers are injured, Shawn is a much needed reinforcement.
After the 2016 season, Shawn signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. During the spring training he left a good impression, but still the Reds released the Aruban just before the start of the 2017 season. The Cleburne RailRoaders jumped in and signed him to a one-year contract.
Both in 2015 and 2016, Shawn split the season between the AA Drillers and the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers. In 2016, Shawn hit a very respectable .306 at AA. But with the OKC Dodgers he hit just .167. In 2015 it was the other way around. At AA, Shawn hit .277 but at AAA he excelled with an average of .303.
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