Oakland A’s top prospect Esteury Ruiz arrived as advertised, showing off his 80-grade speed on the bases this weekend.
During Sunday’s exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants, Ruiz just about caught up to shortstop Nick Allen as they rounded the bases.
In the bottom of the second inning, Tony Kemp hit a base-clearing double to score three runs. Seth Brown easily crossed home. But as Allen rounded third base, so did Ruiz, who didn’t look like he was trying to run hard at all.
“When I was watching that play, Eric Martins, our third base coach, was going to be put in a big predicament because he couldn’t stop Nick — Esty couldn’t go back to second at that point — as close as he was to the bag, so he was going to have to hold them both,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said after the game.
It also appeared Ruiz wasn’t going to be stopped, either.
Kotsay had been aware of Ruiz’s speed the moment they acquired him in the Sean Murphy trade this offseason.
“The kid’s got exciting speed and it was on display right there,” Kotsay added.
Ruiz had been called the “next big thing” in many varieties, but it had been his defense that had been holding him back. For now, it was hard to get a read on if that aspect of his game had been improving. The outfield during spring training games is hard to determine precisely what a guy can do out there with a glove.
The A’s had a not-so-hard decision to make having Ruiz make the club’s Opening Day roster and take over centerfield responsibilities.
While the No. 6 prospect in the A’s organization can play on the corners as well, his speed more than makes up for what his glove can’t do.
The 23-year-old stole five bases in one game (!!!) — a Nashville Sounds record.
He finished last season across Double and Triple-A swiping 85 bags, all while slashing .332/.447.526 in 114 games.
