OAKLAND, CA: The Oakland A’s optioned outfielder Esteury Ruiz to Triple-A Las Vegas. The move clears a 26-man roster spot for infielder Tyler Nevin, who was claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, per the Athletics.
In a rather head scratching move, Ruiz gets optioned. Arguably their best player, Ruiz has been off to a red hot start to his 2024 campaign. Before being optioned, Ruiz hit .429 with a 1.232 OPS in Oakland's first series of the year and went 2-4 with a triple and a stolen base in the A’s 4-3 win over Cleveland.
Ruiz, 25, is arguably one of the best base runners in the league. Last season, he set the AL rookie record for stolen bases last season (67). Ruiz was also heating up at the plate for the last month, hitting .302, of the 2023 season and was showing the potential of what he could become.
A's GM David Forst on optioning Esteury Ruiz to Triple-A, per Jessica Kleinschmidt (team reporter)..
"We talked about Esty a couple times during the spring and where he fits in the lineup on this team, and frankly, the importance of him playing every day - and as you can see through the first four games, and certainly with adding Tyler, that wasn't going to happen here. Mark [Kotsay] and I spoke to [Ruiz] today about some of the things that he needs to do to get back in this lineup.
Cutting down on strikeouts, getting on base, or things that we talked to him about all last season. ... We saw some betting at-bats, but the reality is, to use his skills, he needs to get on base. You saw yesterday - just getting on base twice how he impacted the game. He needs to be able to do that on a consistent basis.”
The Oakland Athletics have little to no expectations for the 2024 season. Esteury Ruiz has been a bright spot for the A’s ball club and will look to continue that with AAA Las Vegas.