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Rays' Ruggiano Ready For Major Duty

The Associated Press

Ruggiano spent much of last season with Triple-A Durham but had four stints with the Rays in 2008.

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By TONY FABRIZIO

afabrizio@tampatrib.com

Published: March 13, 2009

Updated: 03/14/2009 12:45 am

DUNEDIN - Fernando Perez's injury hasn't put Justin Ruggiano in the picture for an outfielder job on the Rays' 25-man roster.

That's because "he's been in the picture the whole time," Manager Joe Maddon said Friday.
Ruggiano spent much of last season with Triple-A Durham but had four stints with the Rays, ranging from three days to Aug. 11 through the end of the regular season.

Because he played stellar defense - recall his leaping catch at the left-field wall for the final out in a 1-0 victory over Toronto on Aug. 27 - and hit only .197 at the major-league level, he's had to fight the label of being a defensive specialist.

But he hit .315 with 51 RBIs and 20 stolen bases last year at Durham.

Maddon clearly likes the soft-spoken Texas A&M graduate whose family owns a 70,000-acre ranch. He refers to his improved hitting this spring (.310 after going 1-for-2 Friday against the Blue Jays) and the reports he's gotten from his minor-league coaches.

"You could talk to any of our minor-league people, and they always talk about him being ready for the major leagues - and to play and play often," Maddon said. "Our minor-league guys like him a lot. Yeah, he's definitely in the picture."

Perez dislocated his left wrist this week and is out for three months, costing the Rays their first choice in center field if B.J. Upton needs more time to come back from November shoulder injury.

Though the situation might have cracked the door open a little wider for Ruggiano, the 26-year-old said he hasn't altered his thinking.

"It doesn't put more pressure on me as far as stepping up my game and trying to fill the shoes of B.J. Upton or Fernando Perez," he said. "I'm just going to go out and do what I can do every day. It's very unfortunate what happened to Fernando. We're friends, and I hate to see a friend of mine not be able to play the game he loves."

If Upton isn't ready, Maddon could have, depending on who is on the roster, platoon options in center and right with the right-handed hitting Gabe Kapler and Ruggiano and the left-handed hitting Gabe Gross and Matt Joyce.
Ruggiano played center in the lower minor leagues and believes he could make the adjustment. Though a center fielder has more ground to cover, the reads are easier and there's less spin on the ball.

He showed he has the outfield acumen with last year's highlight-reel catch in left.

"I'm not going to say that's the best catch I made even all of last year," he said. "I'm capable of making those plays on an everyday basis."
Ruggiano got married during the offseason, vacationed in the Bahamas, learned that he's going to be a father and overcame a temporary vision deficit after corrective photorefractive keratectomy eye surgery.

The Rays want him to cut down on his strikeouts, put the ball in play more and hit to the opposite field. If he can do that, he may well stay at the major-league level.

"I was up and down four times last year, a couple of times for a few days," he said. "It's tough. It's a mind-set you have to have - be ready to move, have a bag packed in case you get the call, and make the most of your opportunities.

"Would I love to stick? Yes. I'd love to get comfortable and not have the anxiety with me with the few at-bats that I'll get in the big leagues like I did last year."

He's in the picture and has been all along.

Reporter Tony Fabrizio can be reached at (813) 259-7994.

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