Ruiz’s hit-by-pitch pain also his gain
Esteury Ruiz’s speed on the basepaths is translating to the MLB level in his rookie season with the Oakland Athletics. The center fielder leads the majors with 28 stolen bases in 33 attempts after going 1-for-2 in steal attempts in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to Atlanta.
Another, perhaps less desirable, aspect of Ruiz’s game also is carrying over: He has been hit by 12 pitches, also most in the majors.
“There’s concern for Ruiz on my end,” manager Mark Kotsay said Monday about that trend.
Ruiz, 24, didn’t reach double digits in hit-bypitches in any of his first five seasons in the minors with the Padres, but he became a pitch magnet last season, totaling 27 in 114 minor-league games.
The simple reason: Ruiz moved closer to the plate in 2022. He said through an interpreter Tuesday that he made the adjustment because: “I see the pitches better. I feel more comfortable.”
His minor-league numbers last year supported that. Ruiz hit .332, well above his .285 career average in the minors, with a 17.3% strikeout rate, compared to his career 22.3% rate.
That hitting breakout helped Ruiz jump from Double-A to the majors last season before the A’s acquired him from Milwaukee in the three-team trade that sent catcher Sean Murphy to Atlanta.
It also, clearly, came with some pain.
“You need to give something to obtain something,” Ruiz said.
The same tradeoff is occurring this season. Ruiz entered Wednesday hitting .274 with an 18% strikeout rate, below the MLB average 22.1% rate. He also is being hit by a pitch about once every five games.
“He’s on the plate. He doesn’t move,” Kotsay said. “He holds his toehold, which is what you’re supposed to do as a hitter. They’re trying to pitch him in and he’s a victim of getting hit.”
Said Ruiz: “I’m sure it’s not on purpose. Because they don’t want me to get on base.”
That’s another layer: The more times Ruiz is hit, the more chances he gets to use his speed on the bases. And given that Ruiz isn’t drawing many walks — he has just 10 in 249 plate appearances — it does put his speed into play more often even when he doesn’t hit his way on. Incidentally, the last major-league player with more hit-by-pitches than walks and at least double-digits in both was outfielder Tim Locastro, who was hit 22 times and walked 14 times while with the Diamondbacks in 2019.
Ruiz said most of the hitby-pitches this season have caught him on the arm; he wears protective guards on his left elbow, upper arm and hand. A couple have not. On Monday, Ruiz took a 93.5 mph fastball to the ribcage area and was clearly in some discomfort.
“I couldn’t even breathe when I first got hit,” Ruiz said, “but after a while, it kind of goes away.”
For the A’s, it might conjure memories of outfielder Mark Canha, who owns the Oakland record for career hit-by-pitches. Canha was hit 80 times from 2015 through ’21, including a whopping 27 times in 2021.
“I don’t want him to rival Mark Canha by any means from a hit-by-pitch standpoint,” Kotsay said of Ruiz. “Hopefully, this doesn’t add up to any type of injuries.”
In memory: The A’s are establishing a program to honor Kyle Ellington, their former director of diversity, inclusion and belonging, who died in January, the team announced. The program will include a $10,000 scholarship awarded for three years at the University of Georgia, Ellington’s alma mater, to an undergraduate student with financial need in the university’s business school who pursues volunteerism, activism and inclusivity, the A’s said.
The A’s also will introduce a Kyle Ellington Impact Award, given annually to a front-office member who promotes diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity in their community and work; and the team will rename the Oakland A’s Community Fund’s socialjustice grant after Ellington.