Veteran reliever and Phillies agree to an intern league contract

admin | November 28, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Reliever José Ruiz reportedly inked a minor league deal with the Phillies.

According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, the Philadelphia Phillies signed veteran reliever José Ruiz to a minor league contract on Monday afternoon. Ruiz is reportedly invited to Major League camp as part of the contract, where he could compete for a spot in the Phillies bullpen.

The 29-year-old right-hander spent the first four games of 2023 with the Chicago White Sox before being acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ruiz had a 5.89 ERA and a dismal 1.65 WHIP at the end of the season, though both of those marks were inflated by a difficult start against the White Sox. He left Chicago after three of his four outings went horribly wrong, with a 22.09 ERA and 3.27 WHIP.

Ruiz was 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings in 34 appearances for Arizona. He ended the season in the Pacific Coast League with the Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate Reno Aces, where he struck out 33 batters in 26 1/3 innings while sporting a 4.10 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.

After signing with the San Diego Padres as a free agent in 2017, Ruiz has played in 212 Major League games, the most of which he has played with the White Sox, where he spent five seasons prior to this one.

The Venezuelan native features a four-pitch mix that includes an 85.7 mph curveball, an 89.6 mph changeup, a 96.2 mph sinker, and a 96.5 mph four-seam fastball.

Ruiz struggled to find his strikeout rate this past season, striking out just 18.8% of the batters he faced, despite having demonstrated some ability to rack up strikeouts in the past (25.7 percent in 2022). With a 10.9 percent walk rate throughout his career, Ruiz has demonstrated an inability to command his stuff. In his 44 1/3 innings this season, he gave up 21 free passes.

The specifics of the contract were unknown at the time of writing.