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Sunday, September 09, 2012

Report: Darin Ruf Getting the Call to the Phillies

Y’all ain’t nothin without Darin Ruf…

Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle, who would know this kind of thing, is reporting that the Phillies are set to call Eastern League MVP and Phillies Paul Owens Award winner Darin Ruf to the big club as early as this Monday.

I’m told that Darin Ruf will get word tonight he is being called up to big leagues Monday

Ruf, 26, set the entire Eastern League ablaze this season, particularly in August, when he hit a league record 20 home runs. His 38 homers on the season were a Reading Phillies record.

The Reading Phillies’ season ended today with a 5-4 loss to the Trenton Thunder in Game Four of their Eastern League playoff series. Although Ruf hit another home run in the game, he grounded into a game ending double play in the ninth inning. What a bum.

Repoz Posted: September 09, 2012 at 09:54 PM | 32 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: phillies

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1. KT's Pot Arb Posted: September 09, 2012 at 11:01 PM (#4231278)

Why don't the Phillies stick him at first? It's not like they have anyone there they owe a hundred million dollars to, do they?

2. Athletic Supporter gangnam style Posted: September 09, 2012 at 11:18 PM (#4231291)

Ruf, 26, set the entire Eastern League ablaze this season

WE DON'T NEED NO WATER LET THE ############ BURN

3. RollingWave Posted: September 09, 2012 at 11:51 PM (#4231319)

it would be amusing if we see the Howard / Thome thing in reverse.

4. JRVJ Posted: September 10, 2012 at 12:43 AM (#4231351)

Would have been more amusing if the Dodgers had put a waiver claim on Howard, and the Phils had let him go.

5. alkeiper Posted: September 10, 2012 at 06:57 AM (#4231388)

I hardly expect stardom from Ruf. But he's a righty hitter, and the Phillies might do well to consider a platoon situation. Howard could use a day off here and there, and it's not as if he hits lefties anyway.

6. TomH Posted: September 10, 2012 at 07:43 AM (#4231391)

The Phillies have had an awful year, and have been buried in the pennant race for months it seems. And yet, eve nnow they are not completely out of it. If they go 5-1 for the next few weeks, they could find themselves knocking on postseason's door. Which seems absurd.

7. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 10, 2012 at 08:06 AM (#4231401)

it would be amusing if we see the Howard / Thome thing in reverse.

As a Phillies fan I would particularly be interested in repeating the part where Thome was traded for Gio Gonzalez and the starting centerfielder for Gio Gonzalez's team.

8. Jesse Barfield's Right Arm Posted: September 10, 2012 at 09:50 AM (#4231440)

And then they could trade Gio and an unbearably frustrating pitching prospect for Freddy Garcia again!

9. Shredder Posted: September 10, 2012 at 10:41 AM (#4231491)

Sorry, but I can't see this guy's name without thinking of the old "this dog can talk" joke.

10. AROM Posted: September 10, 2012 at 11:18 AM (#4231542)

For me that's only half of the name problem. I could see Darren Ruf as a 220 pound slugger whose ability to stick depends on how often he can hit the long ball against MLB pitchers.

But spelling it "Darin", he should be making diving catches in center field, and moving the runner from second to third with a well-placed groundout. The spelling must be a Nebraska thing.

11. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: September 10, 2012 at 11:19 AM (#4231545)

does this mean he loses his redshirt year?

12. Bob Tufts Posted: September 10, 2012 at 11:54 AM (#4231588)

Too bad someone like the late Charles Finley doesn't own the Phils. He'd concoct a story that the kids' family grew up so poor they couldn't afford the extra vowels and consonants necessary to properly complete their first and last names.

13. Dangerous Dean Posted: September 10, 2012 at 03:39 PM (#4231883)

You beat me to it, Tufts. That was a great story about Catfish.

14. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: September 10, 2012 at 04:09 PM (#4231911)

Ruf, 26, set the entire Eastern League

What is a 26 y.o. doing in the Eastern League? Did the Phillies disband their AAA club?

15. jack the seal clubber (on the sidelines of life) Posted: September 10, 2012 at 04:27 PM (#4231923)

His family was so poor, they couldn't pay attention.

I see great potential for Phillies fans to wear dog masks to the games, start "Ruf's Kennel" in the stands, etc.

16. ColonelTom Posted: September 10, 2012 at 04:56 PM (#4231942)

So the white-hot Ruf is on the roster now, yet the Phils have (1) Ryan Howard at first against a LHP after he played both ends of a day-night doubleheader yesterday, and (2) Ty Wigginton (-1.8 WAR this season!) playing LF. I'd excuse not playing Ruf in LF because of his inexperience there (29 G this year), but it's not like Wiggy is a defensive upgrade in LF over anyone, even if they plucked a lucky fan out of the stands and handed him a glove.

17. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 10, 2012 at 04:58 PM (#4231943)

What is a 26 y.o. doing in the Eastern League? Did the Phillies disband their AAA club?

AA is where the real prospects are, right? AAA is mostly minor-league veterans who might be useful backups to the big-league team on short notice.

That's certainly how the Phillies do it, anyway. 1B at AAA has been a guy named Cody Overbeck who is 2 months older than Ruf and was taken in the 2008 draft. (Ruf was taken in 2009)

Last year they signed Jeff Larish (age 28) to be the AAA 1B, then replaced him with Overbeck halfway through the year.

Andy Tracy (born 1973) was the AAA 1B for almost all of 2008, 2009 and 2010. The previous year it was split between three over-30 guys including current Reading manager ... you guess it, Octavio Dotel. I mean Dusty Wathan.

18. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: September 10, 2012 at 05:38 PM (#4231981)

AA is where the real prospects are, right? AAA is mostly minor-league veterans

Isn't a 26 y.o. a minor league veteran?

19. Walt Davis Posted: September 10, 2012 at 05:56 PM (#4231997)

a) technically it's his age-25 season.
b) 25-6 is old for a "prospect" but he was only drafted in 2009 so it's only 3 years of minor-league play.
c) He had to repeat A+

(b) is an interesting thing about college draftees. Unless you're a stud (and Ruf was a 20th round pick) you've essentially got no shot at making the majors before age 25-6. Ruf apparently was only good enough to begin at rookie/A- ball despite being 22 ... how many high school draftees are allowed to still be playing at that level at age 22? (I don't know the answer to that question but I'd guess it's not many.)

20. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 10, 2012 at 05:57 PM (#4232000)

Isn't a 26 y.o. a minor league veteran?

I just told you, he was taken in the 2009 draft. Is that a minor league veteran? Certainly not on the level of most of the IronPigs players this year. (Pete Orr, Hector Luna, Tuffy Gosewitch, Jason Pridie, Rich Thompson, Andres Blanco)

If you're a 26-year-old hitter and not in the majors, you're probably stagnating. But I think if you're a 26-year-old hitter and you're in AAA, you're stagnating even more. The aforementioned Ryan Howard spent only one month in AAA at the end of his great AA season, then another couple months in 2005 while the Phils tried to figure out what to do with Jim Thome.

21. Johnny Sycophant-Laden Fora Posted: September 10, 2012 at 07:17 PM (#4232041)

Isn't a 26 y.o. a minor league veteran?

I just told you, he was taken in the 2009 draft. Is that a minor league veteran? Certainly not on the level of most of the IronPigs players this year. (Pete Orr, Hector Luna, Tuffy Gosewitch, Jason Pridie, Rich Thompson, Andres Blanco)

he was a starter for 4 years in the NCAA, so it's not like he's some baseball neophyte either

The Phillies have had some recent success with late bloomers, Utley, Howard...

22. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: September 10, 2012 at 08:32 PM (#4232082)

I just told you, he was taken in the 2009 draft. Is that a minor league veteran?

4 miLB seasons after 4 years in college? Yeah.

23. Walt Davis Posted: September 10, 2012 at 08:35 PM (#4232085)

On the other hand, the Iron Pigs also have had Dom Brown (24), Cesar Hernandez (22), Kyle Hudson (25), Derrick Mitchell (25), Phillippe Aumont (23), JC Ramirez (23) and even Jonathan Pettibone (21) and some other 25 year-old pitchers.

AAA certainly is the storage facility for 5th-7th OFs, 3rd SSs and the like (the average IronPig is around 28) and teams are at least as likely to jump a prospect from AA straight to the majors as to AAA, but (a) AAA still sees some prospects and (b) 26-year-old "prospects" are probably likely found at AAA. (The average Reading Phillie is 24.) If he's not on the opening day roster next year, I'd guess Ruf will find himself at AAA (or he might be rule 5 eligible).

24. JJ1986 Posted: September 10, 2012 at 08:49 PM (#4232091)

Hudson and Mitchell (and even Hernandez) don't really counter the idea that prospects top out at AA. They might be young, but their future is as minor league veterans.

25. you got a STEAGLES? you're gonna need a STEAGLES. Posted: September 10, 2012 at 09:06 PM (#4232104)

The Phillies have had some recent success with late bloomers, Utley, Howard...

ruiz, mayberry...

26. Der_K Posted: September 10, 2012 at 10:10 PM (#4232137)

Bear in mind, he'd played solidly but unspectacularly as a pro, given his age relative to competition - he'd never before made a BA top 30 list for good reason. And, while he was having a solid season: .306/.401/.536 as of the morning of 8/1 - it's obviously his nutso August (.371/451/.931, with 20 hr in 116 ab) that's the only reason for most of us to know who he is.
In short: he wasn't a prospect; now he is.

27. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 10, 2012 at 11:10 PM (#4232158)

I'm just saying, if he was considered a real prospect he wouldn't have been in AAA, he would probably be in the majors (when Howard was injured at least) and Laynce Nix would be in AAA. The only top prospects at Lehigh Valley are usually some pitchers who have all the requisite skills but need to get experience facing veterans who don't swing at everything, and people like Dom Brown who have been to the majors but were outclassed there.

In related news, the pitching equivalent of Darin Ruf, Tyler Cloyd (2008 18th-round pick) (also from Nebraska), is going to make his fourth big-league start on Thursday. After TWO seasons of being old for his level(s).

28. you got a STEAGLES? you're gonna need a STEAGLES. Posted: September 10, 2012 at 11:26 PM (#4232168)

Laynce Nix would be in AAA

laynce nix has a guaranteed major league contract that still has a year on it. he wasn't getting sent down.

and also, he missed like 3 months of the season with either a leg or a back or a hip or an arm thing. or maybe a concussion.

ruf really wasn't on the radar until he went like a truck in august. i don't think career minor leaguer is entirely apt since he's only 26, and still with his first organization. the term i would use to describe ruf (prior to august, and possibly once again as soon as next may) is organizational filler. every team has minor leaguers who could have a season like ruf's (26 year old 1Bman in AA hits 37 HRs), but that doesn't make its happening any less notable -- at least not until he falls on his face in 300 ML ABs.

29. Der_K Posted: September 11, 2012 at 10:55 PM (#4233273)

Ruf reminded me a bit of Matt Rizzotti, before all this went down - he used to be vaguely interesting org filler (and briefly on a 40 man), but imploded this season.
Always liked Cloyd, never could figure out why. Score one for intuition, I guess.

30. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 25, 2012 at 08:37 PM (#4245715)

Ruf has been sitting on the bench for two weeks (3 at-bats, 0 hits, 0 innings in the field), his chances to play having been decimated by the return of Nate Schierholz from injury and the return of the Phillies to the fringes of the playoff race. He finally got to start a game today (in LF).

First at-bat: HOME RUN off Ross Detwiler.

31. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 25, 2012 at 09:02 PM (#4245736)

When he got back to the dugout after the home run the rest of the team ignored him. Then as soon as the half-inning ended, they all jumped around and congratulated him.

32. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: September 25, 2012 at 09:19 PM (#4245752)

Second hit for Ruf, on the third pitch thrown by Craig Stammen. Stammen's first pitch was a Dom Brown homer. Ruf is now on base for the first time in the major leagues.

Also, why do the Nationals have these pitchers with names that sound like someone made them up to sound sort of like real names. Stammen, Storen, Clippard. Lannan, Balester. Nobody has ever met anyone with these names, other than the Nationals pitchers. Also "Gorzelanny" is a strange misspelling of "Gonzalez", and "Mattheus" should be "Matthews".

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Report: Darin Ruf Getting the Call to the Phillies

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