Atlanta Braves Rio Ruiz benefits from Johan Camargo injury
By Dustin Pumm
Rio Ruiz is just a kid.
Rio Noble Ruiz, born May 22nd of 1994, is 23 years — meaning he’s younger than Dansby Swanson. The problem is that Rio has been around forever. He was drafted in the 4th round with surplus money following the savings on Carlos Correa. So why did the Houston Astros put so much stock into Rio Ruiz and his draft position? Here’s a scouting report snippet from Baseball America in 2012.
"Houston loves Ruiz’s pretty swing path, track record of hitting and balance at the plate. He has powerful hands and forearms, producing homers with strength and bat speed. Some club officials project him as a plus-plus hitter with above-average power, though area scouts saw Ruiz as merely solid in both regards."
Plus hit tool, bat speed, and power projection don’t grow on trees. As prospects go, you’re happy to have two out of the three, but you rarely see all three. Rio was also a two-sport athlete in high school, as the school’s starting quarterback who could also throw 95 MPH off the mound. Adding to all of this is Ruiz’s polished and patient approach at the plate, and you can see why he was so highly thought of.
The Atlanta Braves liked him as well, as he was part of the return from Houston in the Evan Gattis trade, headlining the return along with Mike Foltynewicz. The year before this trade, Rio Ruiz put up a 119 wCR+ in High-A for the Astros as a 20-year-old in 2014.
After the Atlanta Braves acquired Ruiz, however, he stumbled through most of his 2015 AA campaign, finishing with a 91 wRC+. It should be noted that Rio Ruiz began to hit quite well near the end of that year, but it wasn’t enough to right the ship overall.
The past two years have seen Ruiz playing in AAA and MLB at ages 22-23. By this point, a bit of prospect fatigue was already developing for Ruiz, even though he was young for both levels. He put up good-not-great performances in AAA with a 118 wRC+ in 2016 and a 112 wRC+ in 2017.
Part of the problem for Ruiz has been the absolute deluge of shiny new toys during the Atlanta rebuild. Ruiz has not gotten the benefit of reps, as he has accumulated only 180 PAs at the MLB level.