Esteury Ruiz is a promising young middle infield prospect in the San Diego Padres organization. While still early in his professional career, Ruiz has already shown exciting tools that have baseball card collectors taking notice of his rookie cards. Let’s take a deeper look at Esteury Ruiz the player, and explore the landscape of his growing baseball card market.
Ruiz was signed by the Padres as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2016. He spent his first two professional seasons in the Dominican Summer and Arizona Leagues, showing impressive speed and contact ability. In 2018, at just 18 years old, Ruiz was promoted to full season A-ball with the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League. There he batted .281 with 24 stolen bases in just 59 games, demonstrating why the Padres were so high on his upside.
Ruiz continued to develop in 2019 when he played the entire season with Fort Wayne at age 19, batting .268 with 12 home runs, 55 RBI and 32 stolen bases. He also showed improving plate discipline and power production. These breakout performances established Ruiz as one of the top prospects in the Padres stacked farm system and increased collector interest in his rookie cards.
Some of the most sought after Esteury Ruiz rookie cards include his 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospect card, as well as various parallels from that set. As a top international signing and riser up prospect lists in 2019, Ruiz received increased card production in 2019 sets like Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome and Bowman Platinum. The 2019 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor parallel #/150 is one of Ruiz’s most valuable rookie cards to date, regularly commanding over $100 in near mint condition.
Entering the 2020 season, Ruiz had cemented his status as a top 10 Padres prospect and one of the best middle infield prospects in the minors. He was expected to start the year with the Padres High-A affiliate in Lake Elsinore. With the cancellation of the minor league season due to COVID-19, Ruiz spent the summer at the Padres alternate training site. He was able to stay sharp and continued developing, though he missed a full season of valuable at-bats and experience against advanced pitching.
In 2021, Ruiz picked up where he left off in 2019. He began the season with Double-A San Antonio and absolutely tore the cover off the ball. In 65 games, he slashed .314/.383/.500 with 7 home runs, 38 RBI and 15 stolen bases. Ruiz showed no signs of being intimidated by more advanced pitching, continuing to use the whole field and adding surprising in-game power. He was promoted to Triple-A El Paso in early July at just 21 years old.
Through 37 games with El Paso, Ruiz maintained a .288 batting average along with 6 home runs, 24 RBI and 7 stolen bases. While he tailed off slightly from his torrid Double-A pace, Ruiz held his own against Triple-A pitching as one of the younger players at the level. His performance solidified his status as arguably the top hitting prospect in the Padres deep system. Ruiz finished 2021 between both Triple-A and Double-A with a combined .303/.373/.479 slash line along with 13 home runs, 62 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 102 total games.
These breakout performances in 2021 have catapulted the value of Esteury Ruiz’s modern baseball cards. His 2021 Topps Chrome Refractor parallel #/150, Bowman Chrome Autograph, and Topps Fire Autograph rookie cards have all exceeded $200 PSA/BGS Gem Mint 10 graded. Even his base 2021 Topps Series 2 rookie card routinely sells for over $50 in near mint condition. As Ruiz continues developing and pushes for his MLB debut in 2022, collector interest and values of his cards are poised to keep rising significantly.
At just 22 years old heading into 2022, Esteury Ruiz has put himself on the fast track with the Padres. He will likely start the season with Triple-A El Paso, but with his elite speed and contact skills, an early season call-up is not out of the question if an opportunity arises in San Diego. Ruiz’s all-around game and ability to play both middle infield positions adds to his versatility and value to the big league roster.
If Ruiz does debut in 2022, it will unlock a new tier of valuable rookie cards for collectors. His coveted first Bowman autos from 2016 would surge in demand, as would any MLB debut year cards from flagship Topps products. Long term, if Ruiz develops into the potential everyday player many scouts foresee, his earliest cards from 2018 and 2019 could become true key rookies in the hobby. Either way, Esteury Ruiz has established himself as one of the most exciting prospects in baseball. His cards have captured the attention of collectors, and they appear poised for significant gains as his career continues to unfold.
