Rio Ruiz

Position: 3B
Born: 5/22/1994
Height: 6'1
Weight: 235
B/T: L/R
Acquired: Via trade from the Astros on January 14, 2015, along with RHPs Andrew Thurman and Mike Foltynewicz in exchange for C Evan Gattis and RHP James Hoyt (ATL). Originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft (HOU).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: .271 with 10 homers and 62 RBIs in 133 games at Gwinnett (Triple-A) along with 24 doubles.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Gwinnett September 17 when 40-man rosters expanded.
MLB Debut Date: 9/18/2016

Debut Details
September 18, in a 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals. Sort of, anyway. In the bottom of the seventh with the Braves up 6-2, he came on with two outs and a runner on second as a pinch-hitter for relief pitcher Shae Simmons. Reliever Trevor Gott was on the mound, so once Ruiz was officially announced as the batter, the Nats shuffled to replace Gott with another reliever, Matt Grace, taking up a few precious minutes. In those minutes, clouds that had been forming over Nationals Park got bigger and darker and wetter and the game was suspended by its second – and final – rain delay of the day. This one finally forced an early end to the game (not a suspension, an official game). Rio Ruiz never even stepped into the batter’s box, but he’d made his major league debut. Hey, at least his team won. BUT, that said, we at Les Debutantes WILL write up Ruiz’s actual debut-debut when it comes (which should be soon) in our final package of debuts on October 3.

Player Notes
With his official insertion into Sunday’s game, Ruiz became the 250th player to OFFICIALLY make his major league debut in 2016. A highly regarded high school player out of Southern California who had committed to USC as a freshman, he missed much of his senior year of high school due to a blood clot in his right clavicle and his draft status dipped a bit as a result. His consistent ability to hit doubles could turn into more homers as he develops. In 2015, he hit .233 with five homers and 46 RBIs along with 21 doubles at Mississippi (Double-A) and led Southern League third basemen in fielding percentage with a .950 mark.

2080 Notes
You can read our Prospect Spotlight on Ruiz here.