Ruf ready to step to the plate for the Phils

Ruf records: Where the red ,white and blues cross over.

Darin Ruf received the Jim Bauman Trophy for leading the minor leagues in home runs in a ceremony held at the hotel. Ruf hit 38 home runs at Double A Reading in 2012.

If you add the one he hit in the Eastern League playoffs, the three he hit with the Phillies in September, and the 10 he hit in the Venezuelan Winter League, Ruf hit an eye-popping 52 home runs in 2012.

He is expected to compete for a major league job in Clearwater in 2 months.

“I’ve kind of always had the mind-set of they’ll give me an opportunity to show what I can do in spring training,” Ruf said. “I need to take advantage of it. I don’t think it really matters who they sign, what they do, if I can show that I can help the team in some way.”

...The 26-year-old Ruf, who began making the transition from first base to leftfield last summer, hit .317 with a .408 on-base percentage and 1.028 OPS in 139 games at Double A last season.

“He’s kind of jumped onto the scene,” Amaro said. “But he has an element in his game that doesn’t come around very often, and that’s power. It’s not just because he hit 20 home runs in a month. He had productive at-bats and continued to improve throughout the year. That’s a good sign. He hit well in a league with good pitching.”