Abe Ruiz enters his second season as a video coordinator on head coach Tracy Smith’s staff at Arizona State.
Ruiz, who was a three-year letterwinner at ASU from 2009-12, spent the previous season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Devils. Before that, he served two seasons as a graduate assistant, including the 2015 season under Coach Smith and 2014 under previous head coach Tim Esmay.
Ruiz earned All-America and All-Pac-12 honors in 2012 after he tied for the Pac-12 lead in home runs with 13, finished second in the conference in slugging percentage at .595 and fourth in RBI with 53.
He was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 16th round (501st overall) of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft and was also taken in the 47th round (1,401st pick overall) by the San Francisco Giants in the 2008 MLB draft.
In 2012 he led the team in home runs, slugging percentage, RBI and doubles, and appeared in all 56 games for the Sun Devils, hitting .305 with a team-high 53 RBI on 61 hits, including a team-best 19 doubles. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for Feb. 22 after he drove in six runs vs. Western Michigan on Feb 17.
He is a 2008 graduate of Pacific Grove (Calif.) High School and was a 2008 Louisville Slugger All-American and Rawlings All-American selection. He was a four-time first-team all-league selection and holds school career records for RBI (137) and doubles (34).