Atlanta Braves Scouting Report on 3B Rio Ruiz

Scouting Report

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Size/Build

Ruiz is listed at 6’1″ and 230 pounds. I would agree with that weight in 2015, but coming into 2016, he looked to have dropped 10-15 pounds and took off another 5-10 over the season, so it would not surprise me at all if he was more in the 205-215 range now.

Hitting

Contact (50) – Ruiz has a very easy, fluid swing that is easy to like from a scouting perspective.

He gets the bat through the zone well, though he may tend to work a bit too much to the opposite field and could tap into more power in his swing by pulling the ball.

Ruiz experienced notable splits against lefty pitchers, and from my views, it was notable that he seems to hold his right (front) shoulder tucked in for a significant time against lefty pitchers, almost complicating his swing from that point as his upper body is in the way of the swing as it comes through because he’s held it in so long.

Power (50) – Ruiz has a very strong build that certainly could lead to thoughts of power, but if you watch him play, it’s obvious that his swing path is best suited to generate gap power currently.

From the raw power off the bat from Ruiz, it would be certainly feasible that some swing adjustments could lead to a big uptick in his over-the-fence power, but it could lead to other issues that could lessen his value, so there’s some tit-for-tat to worry about with altering things at this point.

Eye (55) – Ruiz has very solid strike zone judgement and impressive pitch recognition as well. His ability to barrel the bat consistently is the only thing that keeps this from a pure 60 grade, but with walk rates consistently in the double digits and strikeout rates usually under 20%, he’s making excellent judgement on which pitches to swing on for sure.

Base Running/Fielding

Speed (40) – Even with the drop in his weight this season, Ruiz is not going to win any races on off days against teammates, unless perhaps Bartolo Colon is rehabbing in Gwinnett for some reason!

In all seriousness, Ruiz was an exceptional quarterback in high school as well as a solid baseball player, so those instincts do serve him well on the bases, which allow him to be a solid base runner, but he’s not got great speed to go along with it, so he uses smarts more than foot speed to get extra bases.

Defense (55) – While the lost weight may not have gained him above-average speed, it definitely did such for his defense.

I was honestly worried about his defense in 2015. In watching his play, he was nearly planted at third base, making plays on the balls right at him, but nearly anything else was going to get by him.

This season, he looked very solid at third, ranging well for balls, showing solid instincts on hot shots, and even coming in well on balls. While he may never be a Gold Glove guy at third, he can play a major league 3B.

Arm (50) – Ruiz has never had a big-time arm, but his lighter weight and better movement allowed him to get his feet under him better and see much better accuracy under his throws in 2016. Arm strength isn’t something he can just acquire, but that ability to be more accurate will allow the arm he does have to play much better throughout his career.

MLB Player Comp

Now, he’s exploded in the last couple of seasons to make this really look like a silly comment to make, but the first thing I thought of when I first saw Ruiz this season after slimming down was the first time I saw Matt Carpenter in a major league game.

He was a guy who was a very high-contact, gap power guy with similar walk and strikeout rates to Ruiz in the minor leagues. While his splits weren’t as heavy as Ruiz in 2016, Carpenter also struggled with lefty pitchers as well.

Now, I won’t make any comparison to current Carpenter, as his ability to both generate power in his swing, handle same-handed pitching, and move around the infield are all things that I just wouldn’t expect out of Ruiz, but that hitter that first came up and hit for a solid average while hitting for a load of doubles and a total of 25 home runs in his first three seasons is a guy that I could see Ruiz turning into at the major league level.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

Ruiz should certainly factor into the third base discussion this spring, though the acquisition of Sean Rodriguez this winter threw another coal into that fire as well.

Adonis Garcia and Ruiz would seem to be an ideal third base platoon with their strength against opposite handed pitching, but the Braves may choose instead to have Ruiz continue to work on his issues with lefties in AAA this season as he’s only 22 to open the season.