Ronaiker Palma

Ronaiker Ricardo Palma

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 180 lbs.

• Born January 2, 2000 in Petare, Miranda Venezuela

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Venezuelan catcher Ronaiker Palma was originally signed by the Colorado Rockies organization on December 7, 2017. His career commenced the following summer in the Dominican Summer League with 51 games split between the Rockies' two teams at that level. His combined slash line of .340/.381/.398 might have revealed a lack of extra-base pop and plate discipline, but he only struck out in 6.8% of the time - 13 K's in 191 at bats - and his batting average was 107 points above league average. He also threw out 52% of potential base stealers - 33 of 69 (though his .980 fielding percentage was merely mediocre).

He was moved up to the Rookie-Advanced level in 2019, where he played for the Grand Junction Rockies of the Pioneer League (the league's final season of affiliated ball). His batting average took a nosedive, but his strikeout rate remained relatively low at 10.9%; his slash line for the year was .218/.261/.269 in 44 games. On the bright side, his defense improved. His fielding percentage rose to .990, and he gunned down 54% of would-be base thieves. He accrued 30 more innings behind the dish than he had in 2018, and there were 17 fewer attempted stolen bases against him.

What would have been his age 20 season - 2020 - was wiped out as the baseball world was thrown into disarray in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. He started out 2021 in the new Arizona Complex League, but was moved up to the reconfigured Low-A West league after hitting .294/.368/.353 in seven games. He played sparingly for his new team, the Fresno Grizzlies, as recent draftee Drew Romo was getting the bulk of the work behind the plate. He hit .221/.250/.235 in his 23 games in Fresno, but continued to show good defense, throwing out exactly half of the 14 men who tried to steal against him and putting up a .993 fielding percentage with no passed balls.

He moved up to the advanced-A Northwest League for 2022 and again found himself backing up Romo, this time for the Spokane Indians. However, he actually wound up catching one more game that Romo did (Romo caught a few more innings). His offensive numbers improved to .300/.336/.401. He hit 4 home runs for the Indians; he hadn't hit any since his lone round-tripper in 2018. Romo served as Spokane's designated hitter about half of the time in order that Palma could get more at bats. He threw out 39% of potential base stealers and allowed 7 passed balls.

He and Romo both moved up to the AA Hartford Yard Goats to begin 2023. He played 11 games in which he slashed .263/.282/.342. On May 12, he was placed on the 7-day injured list. Upon his activation on May 30, he was sent back to the Indians as their main catcher, Braxton Fulford, was moved up to Hartford. Palma also spent about a week at the end of June back with the ACL Rockies, but moved back up to Spokane on July 4, moving back into a starting role.