{"id":502265,"date":"2026-01-02T01:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T01:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502265\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T01:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T01:51:14","slug":"can-esteury-ruiz-finally-unlock-full-potential-with-marlins-marlins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502265\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Esteury Ruiz finally unlock full potential with Marlins? – Marlins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe final Miami Marlins trade of 2025 was a relatively small one on the surface. They acquired outfielder\u00a0Esteury Ruiz<\/a>\u2014a classic “Quad-A player”\u2014from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for pitching prospect Adriano Marrero<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Marlins were very high<\/a> on the 18-year old pitcher Marrero, who signed for $350,000 out of Cuba. But it should be noted that he failed physicals with two other MLB teams before turning pro with the Fish. Also, the organization has a handful of rookie-level pitchers who they value even more, so this was dealing from an area of strength.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLooking at Ruiz, he has a long history of great minor league production. We’ve seen that his elite speed translates to the majors, but so far, the rest of his skill set hasn’t.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\tMIA acquires OF Esteury Ruiz from LAD. The OF has elite speed but just average defense and a weak bat. If he can ever turn into an average hitter, he will be an impact player
Career stats 2022-2025:
197 games
.241\/.396\/.343
8 HRs
77 SBs
21% K%\/4% BB%
.282 wOBA
81 wRC+
0.7 fWAR pic.twitter.com\/2ulYrtGqnM<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\u2014 Jackson Scudder (@jscud23) December 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\tRuiz was originally signed by the Kansas City Royals, then traded to the San Diego Padres with whom he made his major league debut in 2022. Flipped to the Milwaukee Brewers later that season in the Josh Hader trade, he joined the Athletics in the 2022-23 offseason as part of the three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves. Although his MLB experience is spread out across four different seasons, most of his playing time came with the A’s in 2023.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 197 games at the highest level, Ruiz has slashed .241\/.296\/.343\/.639 with eight home runs, 59 RBI, 79 stolen bases and a 81 wRC+. While the high number of steals jumps out, the rest of those stats are about the same as the man he’s replacing, Dane Myers.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Dodgers barely used Ruiz on their way to another World Series title, but he did catch fire with their Triple-A affiliate, slashing .303\/.411\/.514\/.925 with 16 home runs, 60 RBI, 62 stolen bases and a 137 wRC+. These numbers should be taken with a grain of salt as he already dominated the upper minors back in 2022.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt’s exciting that Ruiz has been able to cut down on his chase rate. In the majors, his career rate is 33.6%; in AAA this past season, he was at 35.6%, putting him in the 67th percentile among AAA hitters, per Prospect Savant.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Screenshot\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe problem for Ruiz is he usually doesn’t hit the ball hard enough. His MLB hard-hit rate since debuting in 2022 is 20.9%, barely half the league average. Only Tyler Wade, Tony Kemp, Jos\u00e9 Herrera and Steven Kwan rank lower than him during that span (min. 500 PA).\u00a0This past season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, it was up to 27.6%. That still leaves him relying far too much on his speed to create production.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat being said, it’s surprising to see Ruiz’s barrel rate in the 66th percentile. On the rare occasions when he crushed balls, he made them count by hitting them in the air and pulling them to left field. Being able to identify mistake pitches and swinging at max effort allows him to be more of a power threat than his small 5’10” frame would make you believe.\n<\/p>\n

\t\tz2pw0d.mp4<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tMarlins player development has a motto: “hit strikes hard.” They seem to have targeted a guy in Ruiz who began doing that in 2025.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, the important part is putting this adjustment to the test in the majors. The Marlins will use Ruiz primarily against left-handed pitching. Due to limitations with his throwing arm, he fits best as a platoon left fielder, seeing action on days that Kyle Stowers and\/or Jakob Marsee are on the bench.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tExpectations should remain low for a player like Ruiz. After all, the Dodgers are in “win-now mode” and if they felt he was close to a breakout, they would’ve found a way to keep him. Worst-case scenario, the Marlins are deep with AAA outfield options who could take over for Ruiz by the middle of the season.\n<\/p>\n