Athletics' Esteury Ruiz: Productive out of leadoff spot

Ruiz went 1-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and a run in a win over the Pirates on Monday.

Five of Ruiz's nine hits on the season have now gone for extra bases, leading to his considerably surprising .528 slugging percentage across 42 plate appearances. The speedy outfielder has seen an increase in strikeout rate to 23.8 percent and is sporting a bloated 34.8 percent chase rate as well, but the Athletics might be willing to live with some of that if Ruiz can continue to demonstrate improved pop after posting a middling .654 OPS across 132 games in 2023.