Darin Ruf has people in Venezuela talking single-season HR record
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Darin Ruf has people in Venezuela talking single-season HR record
David Murphy
Darin Ruf's magical mystery tour is still going strong. The slugger is currently spreading his home run gospel in Venezuela, where he leads the winter league with 10 home runs in 120 at-bats and is fifth with a .942 OPS (.258/.368/.570 slash line).
In fact, the locals are starting to talk about the potential of Ruf breaking the single-season record of 20 home runs set by Baudilio Diaz in 1979-80. Problem is, Ruf isn't sticking around for the whole winter ball season. He's scheduled to return to the United States this week, at which point he will enjoy Thanksgiving with his family and grab some rest after a long season.
Here's an article from El Nacional in Venezuela in which Ruf says that the possibility of breaking Diaz's record probably isn't enough to convince him to return for the second half of the winter league season.
To paraphrase the article, Ruf doesn't think about the record, and while he would love to stick around long enough to pursue it, his number one goal is to play every day as a left fielder in the major leagues, and to do that he needs to get some rest after a long season.
Interestingly enough, Diaz, who went by 'Bo,' played for the Phillies from 1982-85, hitting .256/.308/.402 with 36 home runs. His best season came in 1982, when he hit .288/.333/.450 with 18 home runs in 525 at-bats. He also had an epic mustache:
I'm sure Ruben has Ruf penciled in for Lehigh Valley, but has Michael Martinez scheduled for a lot of starts in LF in Clearwater.— BobbyD- Been following the young Phils down there--Tyson Gillies playing center field. Ruf vs Gillies (teams )against each other last evening.
Its true that Ruf leads that league with 10 dingers but its all not peaches and cream--he may be getting tired--with 42 KO's in 120 bats or more then 1-in-3 times-only putting this on to counter the hype that will come about Darren.He is a talent and a work in progress.
Team League AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB 120
.258 32 SO 26 31 8 0 10 27 69 17 42
— HO HUM - Better check his OPS....almost .950...not bad for guy hitting .250 or so. In fact, check his average OPS in all his season in the minors, over .900. Put him in LF and forgetaboutit! — Romus
- @HO HUM -
Good post. Objective. Realistic.— 24sDad - i can't wait to see him flail every day in the majors so all you trolls can look stupid— AlexSp
- Hard to paste these in here-but some more info
and YESTERDAY-against Freddie Glavis--both had great games--
""and Phillies infielder Freddy Galvis went 3-for-5 with an RBI
(AND A 3 BAGGER PLAYING SS) for Zulia.
Phillies prospect Darin Ruf slugged his league-leading 11th homer for the Tiburones.""Darren 2-4--1 dinger and 2 more K'S-SO HE IS SWINGING AWAY--it would be interesting to see what the strikeout pitches are--
maybe he is swinging wild or he has a weakness to a certain spot or pitch..But a great talent
Freddie at .317 4hr 5 2b AND 2 TRIPS 20 K IN 126 AB.— HO HUM - Interesting on Galvis.
Maybe some of us, like me, are wrong about him. I hope so because it looks like he's definitely on the team.
Question is - where does he bat, where does he play? Will we see Rollins at 3B and batting 5/6 with Galvis at SS and leading off? Stay tuned fans.— 24sDad - Freddy's glove alone makes him the super utility guy the Phillies need that MM could not provide...Whereas Polly won a Gold Glove at multiple positions, I doubt highly J Roll would make the transition coming off his stellar defensive effort, and move over...No way. Let's see what new batting instruction and natural stregth development does for Galvis. He might surprise a few folks as I've heard he's been working hard, the right way. — bearsfriend
- I remember Diaz. I didn't realize he had died. According to Wikipedia it was a satellite dish. He was working on it and it fell on his head and neck, killing him.
Ruf should be given every shot given what he's shown. I think the wise thing would be to cut the winter ball short and rest up for 2013. He's been hitting HRs for 8-9 months now. It's not like it's some fluke. My bet would be that he can bring it consistently enough in the big leagues to be valuable. I would like to hear more about how he's progressing defensively as a left fielder.— s - Ruf's challenge will be major league off speed pitching, not LF.— escapedcamden4monterey
- HO HUM - Any idea why Gillies has only played in 13 games? I'd hate to hear that he's hurt again. The guy seems like he spends most of his career on the DL. I'd like to see what Gillies has -- how close he might be to playing in the majors. Had he not had so many injuries and personal issues I would think he'd be a guy we'd be considering playing a role in 2013.— s
- Ruf would be a good LF given the opportunity to start. If he slips, let him get sharp off AAA pitching. Why wait? He has to cut his teeth on off speed MLB pitching sometime, so now is as good as ever.— walt1
- Overreact Time!— FightinPhil
- I hope they give this kid a shot, we could really use a cheap RH hitting outfielder with power. If Burrell and Ibanez can play LF, so can this kid. Wouldn't be a bad idea to spell Howard against some lefties either.— Stephen45
- The 2013 season rests on the performance of Utley and Howard. It does not make sense to commit big dollars this winter on contracts that will keep the new signees in lock step with Howard's contract. If by the trade deadline the Phils are under-performing they should write-off Howard's contract and rebuild. At 3b, SS, 2b, 1b and catcher. A .250 hitter like Upton should not be the cornerstone of a new era.— fafink
