Ruiz joins Dodgers, ‘ready to play in October’

LOS ANGELES — One could say parallel careers intersected on Thursday, when the Dodgers acquired Carlos Ruiz for A.J. Ellis and a Minor Leaguer.

The two catchers shared humble origins as Ruiz first signed with the Phillies for $8,000 in 1998, while Ellis was drafted in the 18th round of the 2003 Draft. Both fought their ways to the Majors and instilled themselves as fan favorites. And, until Thursday, both had known only one team.

The Dodgers and their fans weren’t the only ones to say a difficult goodbye in the trade.

Ruiz arrived at Dodger Stadium on Friday, in time for the team photo, and was immediately inserted into the lineup, batting sixth against Cubs left-hander Mike Montgomery. While a major justification of the Ruiz trade was his production against left-handers, manager Dave Roberts was hesitant to say Ruiz’s playing time would be determined by a platoon.

“Yasmani [Grandal] is our starting catcher. His statistics are just where they need to be against left-handed …

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