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

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 cat ...

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 organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(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. The population was 12,681 at the 2020 census. History The original village, which eventually became known as Amherst, was established/founded by pione ...

. He attended

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division II

Lake Erie College Lake Erie College is a private liberal arts college in Painesville, Ohio. Founded in 1856 as a female seminary, the college converted to a coeducational institution in 1985. As of the 2016–2017 academic year, the total enrollment was 1,177 stud ...

. Rua was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 17th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He was the first player in school history to be drafted. He made his professional debut for the

Arizona League Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

that year and also played for the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

. 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 i ...

. 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. Rua started 2013 with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened i ...

. 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 affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are named for the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regime ...

. 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 In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

' closer

Huston Street Huston Lowell Street ( ; born August 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels. After ...

, 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 play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score ...

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) Amer ...

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 to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

). 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 Jeffery Todd Banister (born January 15, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is the bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Before that, he was a special assistant for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major Lea ...

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 Ian Morgan Desmond (born September 20, 1985) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Desmond is a ...

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

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 Nomar Shamir Mazara Jiminián (born April 26, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball right fielder in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and the San ...

. 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. He elected free agency after the 2018 season.

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 Sportspeople from Lorain County, Ohio Baseball players from 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