After a few mediocre years to start his MLB career in the early-to-mid 2010s, Darin Ruf went to Korea’s KBO, where he rediscovered his swing and became a regular 30-homer guy.
He returned to the majors and was very good with the San Francisco Giants, posting wRC+ marks over 140 (league average is 100 for the offensive-oriented stat) in 2020 and 2021.
He was a bit worse in 2022 in the Bay, and the New York Mets traded for him to take on an important role as a lefty-masher.
He had hit 11 homers in 314 plate appearances in San Francisco, but they came with a decreased 104 wRC+: still a bit above-average, but declining considering his 2020 and 2021 performance.
He has been an absolute disaster for the Mets since arriving in town.
Things Have Been Ruf In New York
In New York, Ruf has a .152/.216/.197 line with no homers in 74 trips to the plate, with an unfathomable 24 wRC+.
Fans don’t want to see him in the lineup anymore, and now media members are also turning against him.
“Darin Ruf just got a pair of cookies belt-high on the inner half. Swing through one and popped up the other. Dude can’t be on a playoff roster. Ride Vientos til the wheels fall off at this point,” Ryan Finkelstein, host of Locked on Mets, tweeted.
Darin Ruf just got a pair of cookies belt-high on the inner half. Swing through one and popped up the other.
Dude can’t be on a playoff roster. Ride Vientos til the wheels fall off at this point.
— Ryan Finkelstein (@FinkelsteinRyan) September 25, 2022
Mark Vientos is a recently called-up rookie still adjusting to life as an MLB hitter.
Even under those circumstances, he still may be a better option than Ruf at this point.
The hulking slugger is certainly capable of much more, as we have seen through the years, but he is running out of time to revert things and can’t be trusted to produce in the postseason.
His roster spot is officially in jeopardy.
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