The Braves announced that right-hander Jose Ruiz has been claimed off the Phillies’ waiver wire. Atlanta has yet to announce a corresponding move for the 26-man roster, and a 40-man move doesn’t need to be made since the Braves only had 39 players on their 40-man roster.
Philadelphia designated Ruiz for assignment last week, after the righty posted an 8.16 ERA in 14 1/3 relief innings this season. A 4.11 SIERA paints a better picture of Ruiz’s quality, as a .383 BABIP and a 57% strand rate contributed to that inflated ERA. Still, Ruiz didn’t help his cause by allowing a lot of hard contact, and striking out only 17.6% of batters. He also spent just under three weeks on the injured list in May due to neck spasms, and he was charged with seven earned runs (over three innings) over his three appearances after returning from the IL.
Ruiz has pitched in parts of the last nine Major League seasons, amassing a 4.55 ERA in 284 2/3 innings with four different teams (primarily the White Sox from 2018-23). Inconsistency has marked Ruiz’s career, though he has been a solid bullpen piece during his better seasons — a 3.05 ERA over 65 innings for the AL Central champion White Sox in 2021, and a 3.71 ERA over 51 frames for the Phillies just last year. Ruiz has always been a hard thrower, but his 95.7mph fastball this season is down a mile from the 96.7mph average he posted prior to 2025.
While the results haven’t been there this season, the Braves saw enough in Ruiz to put in a claim, and absorb the 30-year-old’s remaining 2025 salary (roughly $765.6K of a $1.225MM salary). It isn’t a huge figure, and it’s enough for the Braves to take a flier on Ruiz and add him to the long list of pitchers cycled through the back of Atlanta’s struggling bullpen.