Pictured Above: Wagner baseball alum and current New York Yankee prospect, Ben Ruta (Credit: Dave Saffran)
 
Staten Island, NY – Former Wagner baseball standout, Ben Ruta, was recognized on Tuesday by Minor League Baseball (MiLB).com as one of the New York Yankees Organization All-Stars.

Each offseason, MiLB.com goes position-by-position across each system and honors the players – regardless of age or prospect status – who had the best seasons in their organization.
 
"This is a tremendous honor for Ben to be recognized within the New York Yankees organization," commented eighth-year Wagner baseball head coach, Jim Carone. "We are proud, but not surprised, with Ben's success in professional baseball. Anyone who has been around Ben knows that he will continue to work in order to attain his ultimate goal."
 
The article, written by MiLB.com contributor, Rob Terranova, highlights Ruta, who played 83 games for the Class A Advanced Tampa Tarpons and Double-A Trenton Thunder.

The full article by Mr. Terranova, entitled, "King Reigns Among Next Wave Of Yankees," can be viewed  by clicking Here
 
Below is Mr. Terranova's analysis on Ruta:
Ben Ruta, Tampa (83 games), Trenton (36 games): 
After battling injuries in 2017 and only appearing in 53 games, Ruta proved to be a complete player in 2018. The 24-year-old split time between Class A Advanced Tampa and Double-A Trenton, hitting .300/.350/.441 with a .791 OPS and 40 extra-base hits in 119 games. The 2016 30th-rounder played all three outfield positions and in 150 total chances he committed one error while picking up three assists.

"Ben just put together a really good year all around," said Yankees director of Minor League operations, Hadi Raad. "He's a great player and incredible hitter. He's a pitcher's nightmare to throw to. He's another guy with great barrel awareness and he uses the whole field -- he can spray the ball everywhere. He's got pull-side power, can slap it the other way and he's great situationally. He just gets hits, that's what he does."
  
After finishing the 2017 season with the Charleston River Dogs (South Atlantic League | Class A Affiliate) with a .273 batting average and driving in 13 RBIs, Ruta made his Double-A debut on April 6 against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants).
 
The next day, batting eighth and playing left field, the West Windsor, NJ native went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in a 6-2 Trenton victory. Ruta doubled to left field in the bottom of the second and delivered his first RBI at the Double-A level in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly to center field, which scored Rashad Crawford. In the bottom of the eighth, Ruta ripped his second double of the contest off of Richmond pitcher, Tyler Cyr.
 
For Trenton, he batted .314 with 13 RBIs, 11 walks, eight doubles, a triple while stealing 12 bases. Ruta posted a total OPS of .762, highlighted by a .397 slugging percentage. As a member of the Thunder, he had ten multi-hit games, while connecting for a season-best three hits on three separate occasions (April 8, April 16 and May 22). He drove in two RBI thrice, the last coming on May 16 against the Akron RubberDucks (Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians).
 
On May 24, Ruta was assigned to the Tampa Tarpons from Trenton. In Tampa, Ruta continued to produce, finishing with a .294 batting average while hitting eight home runs and driving in 40 RBIs. His OPS of .801 marked the highest total in his three-year professional career as it was emphasized by a .457 slugging percentage.
 
After going hitless on May 26, Ruta strung together a seven-game hit streak (May 27-June 1), in which he batted .384 (10-for-26) with three runs scored, two triples, two home runs and four RBIs. His best performance during the streak came in the second game of a May 29 doubleheader against the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers), in which Ruta went 3-for-3 batting out of the leadoff spot.
 
In that game, the Flying Tigers got a run in the top of the first but the former two-time All-Northeast Conference (NEC) honoree, belted a leadoff home run to right field to tie the score at 1-1. In the bottom of the third, Ruta collected his second hit of the game on a single to right and ended the day with an infield single in the bottom of the sixth.
 
At Tampa, Ruta produced 26 multi-hit games, which included two, four-hit performances, eight, three-hit games and 16 two-hit contests. For the Tarpons, he had ten multi-RBI games, which included a season-best four RBI game back on August 10 on the road against the Bradenton Marauders (Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates).

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