Rio Ruiz

Rio Noble Ruiz (born May 22, 1994) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft by the Houston Astros. Shortly before the start of the 2015 Major League Baseball season, Ruiz was traded to the Atlanta Braves. He made his major league debut with the Braves during the 2016 season.

Rio Ruiz
Ruiz with the Baltimore Orioles in 2019
Baltimore Orioles – No. 2
Third baseman
Born: (1994-05-22) May 22, 1994
Covina, California
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 18, 2016, for the Atlanta Braves
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.220
Home runs25
Runs batted in99
Teams

Career

Ruiz attended Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California. He played both baseball and football.[1] Ruiz verbally committed to attend the University of Southern California (USC) as a 14-year-old freshman to play college baseball for the USC Trojans baseball team.[2] As a junior, he was named The San Gabriel Valley Tribune's Baseball Player of the Year.[3][4] Considered a potential first round pick in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft entering his senior season, he missed most of the year due to a blood clot in his right clavicle.[5][6][7]

Houston Astros

Ruiz was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fourth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[8] He signed with the Astros for $1.85 million over playing college baseball at USC.[9] He made his professional debut that season for the Gulf Coast Astros and also played for the Greeneville Astros of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. He finished his first season hitting .252/.336/.400 and one home run in 38 games.

In 2013, Ruiz played for the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League.[6] He played in 114 games and hit .260/.335/.430 with 12 home runs. Ruiz spent the 2014 season with the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced California League. After the regular season, the Astros assigned Ruiz to the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League.[10]

Atlanta Braves

The Astros traded Ruiz, Andrew Thurman, and Mike Foltynewicz to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Evan Gattis and James Hoyt on January 14, 2015.[11][12] He was assigned to the Mississippi Braves of the Class AA Southern League, where he struggled. Despite inconsistent results in Ruiz's first year with the Braves organization, he was invited to spring training in 2016 and began the season with the Gwinnett Braves of the Class AAA International League.[13] He hit for a .271 batting average and a .755 on-base plus slugging percentage at the Triple A level, to go along with ten home runs and 62 runs batted in.[14]

The Braves promoted Ruiz to the major leagues on September 17, 2016.[15] The next day, he was announced as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of a game against the Washington Nationals, but was unable to make a plate appearance before the contest was called due to rain.[16] Ruiz tripled for his first major league hit on September 28, against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Frank Herrmann.[17]

Before reporting to spring training in 2017, Ruiz sought help from Azusa Pacific University track coach Kevin Reid, who aided Ruiz in improving his agility and conditioning.[18] Ruiz began the 2017 season with Gwinnett and was promoted to the major leagues on May 18.[19] On May 20, 2017, Ruiz hit his first major league home run off Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer.[20] Ruiz started the 2018 season at Gwinnett.[21]

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles claimed Ruiz off waivers on December 10, 2018.[22] On August 11, 2019, Ruiz hit his first career walk-off home run off Roberto Osuna of the Houston Astros.[23] He finished the 2019 season with a .232 average, 12 home runs and 46 RBIs in 370 at bats. In 2020 for the Orioles, Ruiz slashed .222/.286/.427 with 9 home runs and 32 RBI.[24]

References
  1. Sondheimer, Eric (June 4, 2011). "Bishop Amat's Rio Ruiz contributes to great prep sports moments". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  2. "Bishop Amat's Rio Ruiz is a sophomore star". Los Angeles Times. May 1, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  3. Robledo, Fred (June 30, 2011). "The final awards of the season go to Bishop Amat's Rio Ruiz and Northview's Khalalah Todd, the 2010-11 Tribune athletes of the year". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  4. Robledo, Fred. "Baseball: It's a Banner year for Bishop Amat, Rio Ruiz and coach Andy Nieto earn top honors". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  5. Grimala, Mike. "Don't call it a comeback". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  6. Makarewicz, Daniel (July 14, 2013). "Bandits' Ruiz nearly had game taken away from him". Dispatch Argus. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  7. Robledo, Fred J. (March 26, 2012). "HIGH SCHOOLS: Bishop Amat's Ruiz recovering, in `good spirits'". Whittier Daily News. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  8. Goble, Clark (June 6, 2012). "Astros thrilled with variety of Day 2 Draft picks". MLB.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  9. Tolegian, Aram (June 25, 2012). "BASEBALL: Ruiz has 1.85 million reasons to choose Astros". San Bernardino Sun. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Bowman, Mark (January 14, 2015). "Braves send Gattis to Astros for 3 prospects". MLB.com. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  12. "Braves trade Evan Gattis to Astros". ESPN.com. January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  13. Constant, Andrew (May 28, 2016). "Ruiz Making Strides in Triple-A Debut". MILB.com. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  14. O'Brien, David (September 17, 2016). "Braves 3B prospect Ruiz gets first call to the big leagues". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  15. James, Pat (September 17, 2016). "Diet, hard work come to fruition for Ruiz". MLB.com. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  16. Bowman, Mark (September 18, 2016). "Rain can't spoil debut for Braves' Ruiz, family". MLB.com. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  17. Bowman, Mark; Zolecki, Todd (September 29, 2016). "Braves keep rolling, knock off Phillies". MLB.com. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  18. Bowman, Mark (February 19, 2017). "Ruiz arrives at Braves camp with new body". MLB.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  19. O'Brien, David (May 18, 2017). "Freeman has fractured wrist, expected to miss at least 10 weeks". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  20. "Braves hit 3 homers to beat Max Scherzer, Nationals 5-2". ESPN. Associated Press. May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  21. Kelly, Matt (March 28, 2018). "Braves option Ruiz to Triple-A, reassign 4". MLB.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  22. "Braves INF Rio Ruiz claimed off waivers by Orioles". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  23. "O's battle back to claim walk-off win over Astros". August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  24. https://www.mlb.com/player/rio-ruiz-547004?stats=career-r-hitting-mlb&year=2020
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