Meet Jair Camargo

There are always players at the minor league level that come along without the fanfare of being a high draft pick or a highly ranked international signing. In fact, the majority of players fit that description yet, as my Dad would say, they soldier on and force us to pay attention.

Catcher Jair Camargo is one of those players with the 2019 Great Lakes Loons. It was a bit of a surprise that the 19-year-old from Barranquilla, Colombia was called to fill a roster spot with the Loons this year rather that 20-year-old catcher Ramon Rodriguez.

He was signed by the Dodgers on July 10, 2015, just 10 days after his 16th birthday, and is in his fourth year of professional baseball. Camargo played in the Dominican Summer League in 2016 and the Arizona League in 2017 hitting .250 and .273 respectively. He started the 2018 season with the Ogden Raptors and was hitting .273 when he was returned to the AZL Dodgers on July 25 for the balance of the season. That is why his assignment to the Loons to start the  current season was a bit surprising.

The highlight of his 2018 season was a grand slam and a seven-RBI game with the Raptors on July 5.  He crushed the grand slam and lined a three-run double in Ogden’s 14-5 win over the Rockies at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction. His outburst at the plate promoted his then manager, Jeremy Rodriguez, to pay tribute to Camargo and Dodgers Justin Turner.

As Dodger fans know, Turner has been at the forefront of the of the swing revolution that emphasizes launch angle and getting the ball in the air. As luck or fate would have it, Camargo fell under the Turner sphere of influence while the Dodger third baseman was rehabbing a wrist fracture in Arizona during extended spring training in 2018.

Then Ogden manager Jeremy Rodriguez watched the instruction in person at the Dodgers’ facility and quickly realized the effect it had on the 19-year-old right-handed hitter.

“It was nice having a big leaguer there,” Rodriguez said. “I mess around with [Camargo] a little bit, because there’s little things that he does that Justin does. It’s kind of funny. He’s letting the ball travel and he’s not trying to do too much. That’s the key with him. When he starts trying to do too much, that’s when he gets in trouble.”

“He’s definitely made some great adjustments at the plate,” Rodriguez said. “They definitely worked on his swing and made some changes here and there. He’s working with his preparation before the game. It’s paying off for him.”

With the Loons Camargo has been splitting the catching duties with Hunter Feduccia and they have made almost an equal number of appearances with very similar offensive stats. As of Monday, Camargo and Hunter ranked second and third on the Loons with batting averages of .284 and .282 respectively. In his last ten games Camargo has hit .333 with six runs scored, nine runs batted in and two home runs.

He was recently interviewed by Loons announcer Blake Froling. In the interview the 5’10”/150-pound catcher paid tribute to his family for their support even though he is the only member of his family to make it to professional baseball. He indicated he has played since he was very young and started on his path when he went to  a mini-camp and after that got to the Dodgers Campo Las Palmas complex in the Dominican Republic.

Camargo was asked why he signed with the Dodgers and his answer was revealing.

“They gave me support when I was hurt in the Dominican with a hamstring injury. I see the support they gave. I see how the coaches treat the players and always like a family. It was like fun and I was surprised as I didn’t see that same stuff in other organizations.”

Froling asked Camargo if he grew up watching MLB.

“I see a lot of games. I watched Ivan Rodriguez They were like kind of my heroes. I want to be like those guys. You know the leadership and how they play the game. That is my main goal to try to be like those guys.”

Camargo had a contact with the Dodgers when he came to the United States. Hitting coach Jair Fernandez, also from Columbia, had met with him, helped him, advised him and perhaps was another reason why he signed with the Dodgers. Blake Froling asked what were the most important things that Fernandez had taught him.

“He trained me before I signed. I tried to get as much information from him as I could. He was a good catcher. I’m so glad to have him in the same organization. I learned so much from him. Play hard all the time and give my 100 percent every time I go to the field whether it is cold or hot. Work hard in practice so when you go into the game have fun and just play it.”

I certainly have a soft spot for catchers as catching is perhaps the most taxing spot in all of team sports. In watching Jair Camargo work his leadership is apparent as he is not afraid to go to the mound to settle down pitchers who might be four years his elder. He is hitting .279 against right-handed pitching and .360 with runners in scoring position. He serves as an interpreter for young Latin American Loons who do not yet speak English well enough yet to be interviewed in English only.

He seems to be hitting quite well, especially in pressure situations, so now he must work on honing his catching skills as he catches at higher levels.

Minor League Report by DC

Player of the Day – Niko Hulsizer

Hulsizer had a three-run home run and a double off the wall in the Loons loss. Both hits came on the first pitch of his at bats. He now has an eight-game hitting streak and a 13-game on base streak.

Great Lakes Loons 3 – Bowling Green Hot Rods 6 (Tampa Bay)

After driving through some of the serious weather in Ohio, the Loons arrived at Bowling Green in conditions ready for their game with the Hot Rods who trailed  them by one-half game in the standings.

They came out firing in the first inning with singles by Miguel Vargas and Hunter Feduccia followed by a Niko Hulsizer home run, his league leading 13th. Bowling Green erased that deficit with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and the tying run in the second inning. The teams remained locked at  three into the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning the Hot Rods broke out with  four hits and three runs.

Nineteen-year-old left-hander Robinson Ortiz started for the Loons and had a better outing than in his first start with the Loons. He pitched four innings on five hits allowing three  runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Right-hander Stephen Kolek followed Ortiz. He pitched four innings giving up those three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes  1 – Lake Elsinore Storm 3 (San Diego)

The Quakes  found themselves in a pair of pitching battles on Tuesday as they played a double header with Lake Elsinore. In the first game right-hander Michael Grove made his ninth start of the season still on a strict inning/pitch limit. In his three innings he gave up three earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks. German born Sven Schueller followed Grove and pitched four scoreless innings on four hits and a walk.

At the plate the Quakes could muster only one run on five hits with Starling Heredia scoring on a ground out.  Heredia had two hits for the Quakes.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 1 – Lake Elsinore Storm 0 (San Diego)

The Quakes had but two hits in the second game and one run but that was enough to come away with a 1-0 win. The big blow was a home run by Jeter Downs in the fifth inning.

On the mound Wills Montgomerie and Logan Salow combined for a one hitter with the lone hit by DH Luis Capusano.  Salow picked up his third save of the season with 1.1 clean innings and two strikeouts.

Tulsa Drillers 4 – Springfield Cardinals 7

J. D. Martinez started for the Drillers going five innings and allowing five runs on six hits and three walks. He did strike out five. Yordy Cabrera followed Martin with a clean inning and two strikeouts. Ryan Moseley gave up two additional runs in his first inning pitched and left with two runners aboard in his second inning  with none out. Nolan Long came on to try to put out the fire and did so with two strikeouts and a ground out.

Offensively the Drillers scored all of their runs in two innings with a single by Zach Mckinstry in the third inning scoring Carlos Rincon and Jordan Procyshen who was making his debut with the Drillers. In the fourth inning Cody Thomas scored on a DJ Peters home run.

OKC Dodgers  3 –  Omaha Storm Chasers  5 (Kansas City)

The Dodgers got another shot at the Storm Chasers after losing both ends of the double header on Monday. Catcher Josh Thole was in the line up replacing Will Smith who was debuting with the parent Dodgers. Dennis Santana got the call to start and was the victim of friendly fire. He pitched five innings giving up five hits and three runs. Only one run was earned as he had three errors committed behind him. Omaha padded their lead with two more runs in the sixth inning off Justin Grimm. Adam Mc Creery survived the seventh inning although he gave up two hits and a walk. Stetson Allie came on in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired the side in order.

Heading into the top of the eighth inning the Dodgers had but three hits and no runs. Both Connor Joe and Zach Reks walked to lead off the eighth. Kyle Garlick hit a double down the third base line scoring Joe and Reks all the way from first base. Cameron Perkins who has hit .444 against the Storm Chasers this season also walked. Garlick scored a third run on a ground out. Trailing 5-3 the Dodgers had one more shot in the top of the ninth inning. The possible tying run came to the plate as Jake Peter walked with Connor Joe at the plate. Joe struck out and Zach Reks grounded out to end the game.

NOTE: No Dodgers were injured in the production of this blog… although maybe they should have been! — M.T.