Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2009

Dust Devils spell relief R-U-I-Z

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

Hearing Charlie Ruiz, the Tri-City Dust Devils closer, talk about his split-finger fastball can be a little confounding.

After a while, you're not sure if even Ruiz himself knows what to expect from the pitch.

"Sometimes it has a mind of its own," said Ruiz, who has used that pitch to rack up 17 saves to lead not only the Northwest League but all short-season leagues. "At times it will slide a little, which I don't neccessarily want it to do. Most of the time it'll start out high like a small knuckle and tumble down like a knuckle, tumble, fall thing."

Huh?

If you think the description is confusing, imagine trying to hit the pitch, which is a variation of a straight fastball but gripped with the index and middle finger split along the outside of the horseshoe seam.

"It's a pitch where if you try to snap it down, you'll either spike it or sail it to the backstop. But he can command it," said Dallas Tarleton, a first-year catcher out of Elon University who has seen plenty of solid pitchers but not many who can match Ruiz's stuff.

"He's got a fastball that he locates up to 90 mph, a good slider that disappears against right-handers and a change-up that he shows to lefties," Tarleton said. "He's got four pitches he can throw for strikes. That's more in the back of a batter's mind to worry about."

But it's the splitter -- or 'splitty' as Tarleton calls it -- that Ruiz considers his bread and butter. It's taken a long time to develop the pitch since first experimenting with it as a young teenager in San Leandro, Calif.

Ruiz, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, dabbled with the pitch as a senior at Arroyo High School before moving on to Chabot College, where he got his first taste of the closer's role.

"I told my coaches that I threw (the split-finger) a little in high school," he said. "They told me if I could figure that pitch out I could really open some doors."

At first, Ruiz said his emotions sometimes got the best of him during games, and if he had a bad game he would try to compensate for it in his next outing.

He consulted with coaches and even a team psychologist about managing a game from a mental standpoint.

"My (Chabot) pitching coach said the stuff you have is exactly what you need for your role, but sometimes you have to take an outing for what it is," said Ruiz, who transferred to Long Beach State for his junior year. "He taught me to focus and slow down."

Ruiz led Long Beach State with 11 saves and was drafted in the 10th round of the First-Year Player Draft by the Colorado Rockies, who sent him to begin his career in Tri-City. He credits pitching coach Darryl Scott, a former major league pitcher with the California Angels, with helping him make the transition to pro ball.

"(Scott) came up through the system in the same role," Ruiz said. "Being able to relate to him and being able to figure it out at this level is more than I could ask for."

Dust Devils manager Fred Ocasio has come to depend on Ruiz to slam the door on other teams. On Saturday, it was Ruiz who closed out a 3-1 win over Boise that clinched the East Division championship.

"He's done a great job as a closer, but the most impressive thing is his character," Ocasio said. "He's out there trying to get better every time."

Another of Ruiz's strengths is that he wants the ball in crunch time, a trait that has helped him convert 17 of 18 save chances this season.

"Being a closer, you've got to have your stuff right here, right now," he said. "I'm thinking I'll come in and beat you with my left hand if I have to. I'll do whatever I can to get you out this inning.

"You have to have the mentality that nothing can stop you."

So far, not much has been able to stop Ruiz -- only the Rockies' careful attention to pitch limits has been able to slow him down -- and he was recently named to the NWL All-Star team along with fellow reliever Craig Bennigson.

Ruiz, who had pitched two previous days, had to watch Paul Bargas and Rhett Ballard finish off Yakima last week during a 7-6 win in a clutch situation.

"If you pitch two days in a row, they don't want you to go a third," Ruiz said. "I was mad because I had my purse on and couldn't throw. But I ended up more excited for them than some of (my saves)."