Ryan Anthony Rua (born March 11, 1990) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers.

Career

Rua attended Marion L. Steele High School in

Amherst, Ohio Amherst ( ) is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located west of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 12,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The original village, which e ...

. He attended

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division II

Lake Erie College Lake Erie College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Painesville, Ohio. Founded in 1856 as a female seminary, the college converted to a coeducational institution in 1985. History Lake Erie Female Seminary The semi ...

. Rua was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 17th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. He was the first player in school history to be drafted. He made his professional debut for the Arizona League Rangers that year and also played for the Spokane Indians. In 52 games, he hit .303./.376/.484 with four

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

. He returned to Spokane in 2012 and hit .293/.368/.432 with seven home runs in 74 games. During his time in the minor leagues, Rua primarily played

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

. Rua started 2013 with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

. At the end of June he was leading the entire minor leagues in homers. On August 9, he was promoted to the Double-A

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

. He finished the year hitting .247/.347/.525 with 32 home runs in 127 games. He started the 2014 season back with Frisco. Rua was called up to the big leagues for the first time on August 29, 2014, and made his debut the same day at first base, collecting his first hit on an infield single. Rua finished his debut going 1-for-5 with a run scored. On September 21, 2014, Rua hit his first career homer, a solo shot off

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

' closer Huston Street, sending the Rangers to a 2–1 victory. Rua made the Rangers 2015 opening day roster, and on opening day, Rua had the only base hit for the Rangers as they fell to Oakland 8–0. On July 30, 2015, Rua hit an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a rare play in which a Batter (baseball), batter rounds all four bases for a home run without the baseball leaving the baseball field, field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-p ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in the bottom of the fourth inning, tying the game 5–5 (the Rangers went on to win 7–6 after a walk-off from

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers teams ...

). Before Opening Day 2016, Rua was informed he had made the Opening Day roster. He started out as a bench player, but as the end of April progressed, manager Jeff Banister began to trust Rua more and more as an every day player. When center fielder Delino DeShields, Jr. was sent down to Triple-A on May 13, Ian Desmond moved to center and Rua received the left field job. On May 10, 2016, he hit a 3-run home run in the 8th inning against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

to cap the biggest Rangers' comeback since 2012 (13–11). But Rua began to struggle again and by the end of May he had lost his job to Nomar Mazara. In 99 games, Rua hit .258 with 8 home runs and 22 RBIs. The next two seasons, Rua would shuffle between the minors and the Rangers roster. Rua made one pitching appearance on July 23, 2018, throwing a scoreless inning and recording one strikeout. In 61 games for the Rangers, he batted .194/.221/.360 with six home runs and 12 RBI. On November 2, Rua was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Triple–A. He subsequently elected free agency the same day.

Personal life

Rua's number 2 was retired by Marion L. Steele High School in 2015.

References

External links

Lake Erie College Storm bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rua, Ryan 1990 births Living people People from Amherst, Ohio Baseball players from Lorain County, Ohio Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Texas Rangers players Lake Erie Storm baseball players Arizona League Rangers players Spokane Indians players Hickory Crawdads players Frisco RoughRiders players Surprise Saguaros players Round Rock Express players