Esteury Ruiz

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is Reyes.

Esteury Ruiz Reyes (born February 15, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball center fielder for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the San Diego Padres and also played for the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2023, he set the American League record for stolen bases in a rookie season with 67.^[1]

Esteury Ruiz
Ruiz with the Fort Wayne TinCaps in 2018
Athletics – No. 1
Center fielder
Born: (1999-02-15) February 15, 1999 (age 25) Azua, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 12, 2022, for the San Diego Padres
MLB statistics (through 2024 season)
Batting average	.243
Home runs	7
Runs batted in	57
Stolen bases	73
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
San Diego Padres (2022) Milwaukee Brewers (2022) Oakland Athletics (2023–present)
Career highlights and awards
AL stolen base leader (2023)

Career

Kansas City Royals

Ruiz signed with the Kansas City Royals as an international free agent on July 3, 2015.^[2] He made his professional debut in 2016 with the Dominican Summer League Royals and started 2017 with the rookie–level Arizona League Royals.

San Diego Padres

On July 24, 2017, the Royals traded Ruiz, Matt Strahm and Travis Wood to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter and Brandon Maurer.^[3][4] He began his Padres career with the rookie–level Arizona League Padres.^[5] He played 2018 with the Single–A Fort Wayne TinCaps and 2019 with the High–A Lake Elsinore Storm. Ruiz did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

Ruiz returned in 2021 to play for the Double–A San Antonio Missions and returned there to start the 2022 season.^[7] On July 12, 2022, the Padres selected Ruiz to the major league roster.^[8] He made his major league debut that day as the starting center fielder against the Colorado Rockies, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.^[9]

Milwaukee Brewers

On August 1, 2022, the Padres traded Ruiz, Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet and prospect Robert Gasser to the Milwaukee Brewers for Josh Hader.^[10] In 2022, he batted .332/.447/.526 in 437 at bats.^[11] Ruiz led the minor leagues in stolen bases, with 85,^[12] while being caught 14 times, and was third in the minor leagues in times hit by pitch with 27.

Oakland Athletics

On December 12, 2022, the Oakland Athletics acquired Ruiz from the Brewers in a three-team trade in which the Atlanta Braves acquired Sean Murphy, the Brewers acquired William Contreras, Joel Payamps, and Justin Yeager, and the Athletics also acquired Manny Piña, Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok, and Royber Salinas.^[13]

On March 25, 2023, manager Mark Kotsay announced that Ruiz had made the Opening Day roster.^[14] While playing against the New York Yankees on June 28, Ruiz was the final out, grounding out to Josh Donaldson, in Domingo Germán's perfect game. In a July 5 game against the Detroit Tigers, Ruiz stole his 43rd base of the season in the 12–3 victory. In doing so, he set the A's rookie record for stolen bases in a season, surpassing the previous record of 42 set by Mitchell Page in 1977.^[15] On July 7, the A's placed Ruiz on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder injury. He was the MLB stolen base leader at the time of the injury.^[16] In 132 games for Oakland, Ruiz hit .254/.309/.345 with 5 home runs, 47 RBI, and 67 stolen bases. His stolen base tally set a new AL rookie stolen base record, surpassing Kenny Lofton's 66 steals from 1992.^[17]

Ruiz was optioned to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators on April 1, 2024.^[18][19] He was recalled on April 15 after J. D. Davis was placed on the injury list.^[20] In 29 games for Oakland, Ruiz slashed .200/.270/.382 with two home runs, eight RBI, and five stolen bases. He was placed on the injured list with a strained left wrist.^[21] Ruiz was transferred to the 60–day injured list on September 4, ending his season.^[22]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic

References

1. Gallegos, Martín (October 1, 2023). "Ruiz, Rooker finish strong, cap 2023 with milestones". MLB.com.
2. Benbow, Sammy (March 4, 2018). "Prospect Esteury Ruiz is on the Rise". East Village Times. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
3. Ruiz, Nathan (July 24, 2017). "Padres get Strahm, Wood, prospect from KC". MLB.com. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
4. "Minors: What to know: New Padres prospect Esteury Ruiz". July 25, 2017.
5. "Arrow's pointed up for 'Caps infielder | TinCaps | Journal Gazette".
6. "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
7. "Minors: Esteury Ruiz's new discipline, Luke Voit struggling in el Paso". May 7, 2022.
8. "Padres pregame: Esteury Ruiz in lineup for MLB debut; Rockies without Cron, Bryant". July 12, 2022.
9. "Esteury Ruiz makes successful MLB debut with Padres". friarsonbase.com. July 13, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
10. Cassavell, AJ (August 1, 2022). "Padres acquire Hader from Crew in 5-player trade". MLB.com. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
11. 2022 Register Batting Leaders Baseball Reference
12. Axisa, Mike (November 23, 2022). "Hunter Renfroe not surprised by Brewers trade; these seven players could also be 'too expensive' for Milwaukee". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
13. "Sean Murphy trade: Braves land catcher from A's in three-team deal; Brewers get William Contreras". CBSSports.com. December 12, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
14. "Athletics' Esteury Ruiz: Lands spot on Opening Day roster". cbssports.com. March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
15. "A's Rookie Esteury Ruiz steals 43rd base, makes history!". whitecleatbeat.com. July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
16. Farkas, Brady (July 7, 2023). "MLB Stolen Base Leader Hits Injured List with Shoulder Issue". Fastball. Sports Illustrated.
17. "Ruiz, Rooker finish strong, cap 2023 with milestones". mlb.com. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
18. Fernandez, Gabe (April 1, 2024). "Two A's players who wore protest organizers' apparel have been demoted". SFGate. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
19. Gallegos, Martin (April 1, 2024). "Ruiz sent to Minors to work on consistency, reducing strikeouts". MLB.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
20. "A's Place INF J.D. Davis on IL; Recall OF Esteury Ruiz from Las Vegas". MLB.com.
21. "Athletics put Esteury on IL with strained wrist". espn.com. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
22. "Athletics Claim CJ Alexander". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved September 22, 2024.

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet