José Rafael Ruiz...Married, wife’s name is Liseth...Attended Liceo Luis Augusto Machado Cisnero in Guacara...His brother, Humberto, played professionally in BAL’s Minor League system from 2004-05.
2023
Before the season, pitched for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic; went 2-0, 0.00 ERA (4.1 IP) in three games...Began the year with CWS before being traded to ARI on 4/9...Had a 3.20 ERA (9 ER, 25.1 IP) with 25 SO over his first 22 games for ARI (4/11-6/10)...Was outrighted to Reno (AAA) on 7/30...With Reno averaged 11.28 SO/9.0 IP (33 SO, 26.1 IP) over 17 appearances (4 GS).
2022
Spent the entire season with the White Sox, establishing career highs in appearances (63), strikeouts (68) and holds (11)....Ranked second on the club in appearances and third in holds....Home and Road: Posted a 2.73 ERA (8 ER/26.1 IP) with a .161/.238/.247 (15-93) opponents slash line in 28 road outings, compared to a 6.03 ERA (23 ER/34.1 IP) and .279/.381/.522 (38-136) opponents average over 35 games at home....Recorded a 3.62 ERA (15 ER/37.1 IP) over 39 appearances in the first half and a 6.17 mark (16 ER/23.1 IP) over 24 games after the All-Star Break....Earned a hold in nine of his first 16 appearances, including his season debut on 4/9 at Detroit (0.2 scoreless IP)…posted his third hold on 4/16 vs. Tampa Bay, striking out the side in the seventh to help secure a 3-2 victory....Threw a season-high 11.2 consecutive scoreless IP from 6/15-7/12 (11 games)…held opponents to a .125/.205/.150 (5-40) slash line while posting a 0.77 WHIP during that span....Earned his only win on 7/6 vs. Minnesota after tossing a scoreless 10th inning…posted his final hold on 7/27 at Colorado....Allowed a career-high five runs over 2.0 IP on 8/18 vs. Houston before recording an eight-game scoreless streak (7.0 IP) from 8/22-9/14.
2021
Recorded career highs in appearances (59), IP (65.0), strike-outs (63) and holds (four)...Held first batters faced to a .218 (12-55) average with zero home runs allowed and 16 strikeouts...Left-handed slashed just .208/.289/.465 and righties recorded a .211/.276/.296 line...pitched on zero days rest 10 times (4 ER/11.0 IP)...Made his first career Opening Day roster...suffered the loss in his season debut on 4/5 at the Angels after allowing the eventual winning run to reach base in the ninth inning of a 4-4 game...after leaving the game, Jared Walsh hit a game-ending homer off Matt Foster...Tied his career-high four strikeouts over 2.0 scoreless IP on 4/19 at Boston...Recorded a seven-game scoreless streak from 4/25-5/12...opponents went 1-25 (.040) with seven strikeouts...Earned his first win of the season on 7/30 vs. Cleveland, working 1.0 scoreless IP with one strikeout...entered the game in the eighth inning with runners on first and second with no outs and the game tied at 4-4...Made his 100th career appearance on 8/28 vs. the Cubs, working a season-high scoreless 2.0 IP (seventh time)...Recorded a 10-game scoreless streak from 8/25-9/20 (12.0 IP)...limited opponents to a .136 (6-44) average with nine strikeouts and one hold during the streak...Appeared in one game of the ALDS vs. Houston...worked 1.1 perfect IP in Game 1 at Minute Maid Park.
2020
Appeared in five games...Opened the season on the injured list … was reinstated from the IL and recalled from the Schaumburg training facility on 8/9...Made his season debut on 8/15-1 vs. St. Louis, tossing 1.0 scoreless IP … threw 1.0 perfect IP in his second outing on 8/17 vs. Detroit...Was optioned to Schaumburg on 8/18 and recalled a second time on 9/17 … recorded 1-2-3 outings on 9/18 and 9/20 at Cincinnati … allowed a game-ending, three-run homer to José Ramírez on 9/22 at Cleveland, snapping a streak of 11 straight batters retired...Was optioned to Schaumburg on 9/25 for the rest of 2020.
2019
Appeared in 40 games over six stints with the White Sox ... Posted a sub-3.00 ERA in May (1.29) and July (2.35) ... Was recalled from Class AAA Charlotte prior to the start of the minor-league season on 4/3 … made his season debut on 4/6 vs. Seattle (3 ER/0.1 IP) … recorded his first hold on 4/12 at the Yankees (0.1 scoreless IP) ... Made five consecutive scoreless appearances from 4/24-5/4 … was optioned back to Charlotte on 5/4, and recalled on 5/17 … appeared in two games before being optioned on 5/22 ... Was recalled on 5/28, replacing Ryan Burr on the roster ... Earned his first major-league victory on 7/3-2 vs. Detroit, striking out the side in a perfect 12th inning … José Abreu hit a game-ending, three-run homer in the bottom of the 12th ... Was optioned back to Charlotte on 8/10 … was added to the active roster as the 26th man for Game 2 of a doubleheader on 8/13 vs. Houston … did not pitch and was returned to the Knights following the second game ... Was recalled from Charlotte on 8/23, replacing Jace Fry (paternity list) on the active roster ... Struck out a career-high four batters over 1.1 IP on 8/24 vs. Texas … was optioned back to Charlotte following the game ... Was recalled from Charlotte on 9/4 for the remainder of the season … appeared in five games (5 ER/5.2 IP) ... Nine of his 11 games with the Knights were scoreless.
2018
Spent most of the season with Class A Winston-Salem and Class AA Birmingham before making his major-league debut with the White Sox in September ... His contract was purchased from Birmingham on 9/4 ... Made his White Sox debut on 9/5 vs. Detroit, allowing two hits with two strikeouts over 1.1 scoreless IP … also struck out two in 1.0 IP on 9/16 at Baltimore ... Combined to go 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA (20 ER/58.2 IP), 77 strikeouts (11.8 per 9.0 IP) and 16 saves over 43 relief appearances between Winston-Salem and Birmingham ... Ranked second among White Sox farmhands in saves ... Opened the season with the Dash and allowed just four runs with 22 strikeouts over 13.1 IP … limited right-handers to a .100 average (2-20) and lefties to a .154 mark (4-26) ... Did not allow a run over his final seven appearances from 4/17-5/8 (9.1 IP; 15 strikeouts) ... Was promoted to Birmingham on 5/10, where he made 33 appearances … converted 14 of 16 save chances (87.5 percent) ... Left-handers went just 10-54 (.185) with 19 strikeouts … fourteen of his appearances were more than 1.0 IP ... Struck out multiple batters in each of his first five outings, six of seven and eight of 10, including five on 5/21 vs. Montgomery ... Recorded a win or save in five straight appearances from 6/9-23 (four saves, one win) … converted each of his first eight save chances, and his final six of the season ... Eight of his final nine games from 8/4-9/1 were scoreless.
2017
Spent the majority of the season with Class A Lake Elsinore while making his major-league debut with San Diego ... Was recalled from Lake Elsinore on 7/24, making his majorleague debut that night vs. New York-NL … tossed 1.0 scoreless IP, striking out Yoenis Céspedes for his first career strikeout ... Was optioned to the Storm on 7/25, where he spent the remainder of the season ... Was on the disabled list from 4/23-5/6 with right triceps inflammation ... Posted a 1.86 ERA (2 ER/9.2 IP), one save and eight strikeouts over eight appearances in June ... Was claimed by the Sox off waivers from the Padres on 12/22.
2016
Spent the majority of his five seasons in the Padres minor league system as a catcher prior to making the transition to pitcher in 2016...split the season between Single-A Lake Elsinore, Short-A Tri-City and the Arizona Rookie League, going 2-0 with two saves, a 0.00 ERA (0 ER, 12.1 IP) and 14 strikeouts against five walks in his 11 appearances ...Made nine appearances for Short-A Tri-City, converting both of his two save opportunities and allowing just three hits while striking out 12 in his 10.2 innings pitched...Made 49 starts (all behind the plate) for Single-A Lake Elsinore, posting a .988 fielding percentage (five errors in 425 total chances.
2015
Appeared in 90 games (89 starts) at catcher for Class A Fort Wayne in the Padres organization ... Hit .323 (21-65) with two doubles and seven RBI over 19 games in July.
2014
Made 43 starts at catcher for Class A Eugene ... Threw out 33.7 percent (28-83) of attempted base stealers.
2013
Spent the entire season with the Arizona Rookie League Padres, making one appearance with Lake Elsinore ... Batted .333 (12-36) with four doubles, one triple and 15 RBI with RISP at the AZL Padres.
2012
Made his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Padres ... Threw out 40.0 percent (42-63) of attempted basestealers