New York Yankees prospects Esteven Florial, Isiah Gilliam and Wilkerman Garcia turning it on

I Hope He is Doomed to Repeat This

And we have to pay attention to more than just his line: .390/.422/.492. He still doesn’t have any home runs, but his four doubles and one triple are an improvement.

No, it is also because of how consistent Ruta has been at Double-A. By the third day of the season, his average was up to .455; it has never been below .357 since. He’s raking, and he’s raking every day.

So at this point, it is at least fair to Mr. Ruta to start including his history. This comes to us from an excellent piece by Jackson Thompson writing for The College Voice.

"As standout baseball player at West Windsor-Plainsboro South High School, Ben Ruta rolled through his senior year in 2012 batting .462 with 20 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Under head coach Don Hutchinson, Ruta developed into a speedy contact hitting shortstop. Hutchinson says of Ruta, “He had that real nice sweet sing to opposite field, and he learned how to pull the ball as he got stronger…but probably his greatest asset was what he brought out of other players because of the way he conducted himself and went about his business the right way.” At the end of his senior year, Ruta decided to go to Staten Island, New York to play baseball and major in liberal arts at Wagner College. Ruta was the beneficiary of an unprecedented hitting streak that spanned over two years. He finished his career at Wagner with .333 batting average, and .939 fielding percentage."

A Surprising Rising

Ruta’s rise has even surprised his old coach:

"As Coach Hutchinson explains, “I mean I knew he was a good player but to be truthful, I’m not shocked but I would not have thought that he would have climbed as fast and as high as he has already, so good for him.”"

If you have time read the whole piece. Because if Ruta keeps hitting, he will soon be doing so in Scranton. For those of you who lament the passing of outfielders such as Dustin Fowler and Ben Gamel, Ruta might soon be your new favorite RailRider.

Because even with the Yankees outfield depth, factors such as trades, injury, and underperformance can open unexpected doors. Ruta still has a long ways to go in order to be big league ready, but he is worth watching now in Trenton…before we start watching him as a fill-in in the Bronx.

But if his sample of success is too small for any real predictions, then that of Wilkerman Garcia down in Charlotte is positively minuscule.