The Swing of Things for the Atlanta Braves
Rio Ruiz has done everything possible to acquit himself and earn playing time. Two years running Ruiz has shown up in tremendous shape during the spring, putting to rest any concerns about staying on the dirt going forward. He has also been learning to play first base this year. His makeup and mature approach both at the plate and mentally have never been in question.
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What Rio Ruiz has not had, however, are two things. 1) a long enough audition to prove himself and 2) the ability to get the ball off the ground. In 2017 Ruiz ran an abysmal 57.3% groundball rate at the MLB level. Ruiz is also a pull hitter, with 41.1% of his batted balls hit to the pull side. The absolute worst batted balls are pulled grounders. The absolute best-batted balls are pulled fly balls because they become home runs more than other fly balls.
While point #1 above has been beyond Rio’s control, point #2 has not been. Rio apparently became savvy to his batted ball woes and worked at Driveline Baseball over the winter.
His intent? To re-work his swing and get the ball in the air. He addressed this in literally the best way possible: by training with the man who radically changed Justin Turner’s career, Doug Latta.
Under the tutelage of Doug Latta, Justin Turner became the flyball revolution poster child. To quote Fred Owens at sister site Tomahawk Take, “Spurred by the success of Turner and realizing it was now or never with the Braves. Ruiz committed himself to Latte’s approach. Ruiz told O’Brien he believes the adjustments he’s made this offseason “…have him in a good place with his swing.”
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Armed with a new swing and the guarantee of at least some playing time to start 2018, Rio Ruiz’s time to shine may be upon us. The talent, the power, and the ability to barrel balls have always been there. Rio is set to show the world that he has figured out how to tap into it all.
In a year that should all but guarantee excitement, Rio Ruiz will be another fun piece of the puzzle to monitor for the Atlanta Braves moving forward.