When the New York Mets acquired Darin Ruf before the trade deadline, they expected him to be an asset against left-handed pitchers at the very least.
After all, he has a .897 career OPS against lefties, compared to just .665 vs. righties.
As it turns out, he has been a liability against everybody.
“His OPS+ is 9. That’s it. Just 9. J.D. Davis’ OPS+ with the Giants since the trade is 121+,” Mark Edwards, the senior editor for sports and online at the Anniston Star, tweeted.
The big league average OPS+ is 100. Darin Ruf’s OPS+ with the Mets is 9. https://t.co/5IS1CaG1lj
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) September 13, 2022
Davis, as you might recall, was the player the Mets traded to San Francisco to get Ruf.
If you want to contextualize Ruf’s performance with the Mets compared to the league average, The Athletic’s Marc Carig offers some help.
“The big league average OPS+ is 100. Darin Ruf’s OPS+ with the Mets is 9,” he tweeted.
Things Have Been Ruf For Darin On The Mets
So, yes: things have been Ruf (pun very much intended).
Overall, Ruf is hitting .137/.179/.196 in 56 plate appearances.
He has no home runs yet, and has struck out in 26.8% of his trips to the plate.
The Mets offense has suffered because Ruf has been unable to do his job, but that’s baseball: some trades work out, others don’t.
After several mediocre years in MLB, Ruf went to Korea and remade himself between 2017 and 2019.
He returned to MLB in 2020 and was very good in his lefty-killer role, putting seasons of a 140 wRC+ (2020) and 143 wRC+ (2021).
League average for wRC+ is 100.
This year, however, he was decent (around league average) for the Giants, but lousy in Queens.
He has the potential to bounce back, but if he doesn’t, his postseason roster spot is very much in jeopardy.
NEXT: The Mets Can Accomplish A Big First At Citi Field
