I have a soft spot in my heart (and my head) for guys who put up really solid offensive numbers in AA. Travis Chapman, Eric Valent, Jeff Stone, Matt Rizzotti, Steve Susdorf, and, this year, at least so far …. Darin Ruf.
Ruf was a 2009 draftee after his senior year at Creighton. He was drafted in the 20th round, 617th overall. Not exactly a guy who’ll get handed a position. The Phils showed what they thought of him by sending him to GCL (unusual for a college guy) while Stephen Batts was given first shot at Williamsport at-bats. Ruf was OK at GCL, and Batts struggled in North-Central PA. Ruf and his .326 BA (with little power) packed up and moved to Williamsport. He led the team in OPS ahead of Valle, Castro, James, and (needless to say) Hewitt. He was 22.
At 23 he played the first month in Lakewood, where he tore the cover off the ball with an OPS of .991, then was promoted to the FSL, where he struggled through the scorching summer at Clearwater. This was his first real struggle in pro ball, but even given it was a struggle, he hit almost .280 with a .756 OPS. His secondary stats were bad, though, as his K-rate went way up and his BB rate went down. Well, it looked like he might have hit his ceiling–another year or two, and he’d be flipping burgers.
Phils had him repeat Clearwater for a full year in 2010 at 24, and, surprise, he turned it back on. He led the league in BA at .308 and OPSed .894, mashing 43 doubles and 17 HRs. The most impressive thing was his walk rate more than doubling.
So his .387 BA and 1.046 OPS didn’t come out of nowhere, as some folks seem to think. As a 25-year-old in AA he has to move fast, but he could be a major league starter if he gets the right chance and a team sticks with him. His glove is pretty solid, and given that Overbeck can play 3B he could move to AAA before the end of the year. His walk rate is a bit low this year, and his BABIP will likely regress. But the guy can probably hit in the big leagues. If they leave him in Reading, he might win an MVP. Worth the trip to Baseballtown to watch him.
Phuture Phillies 
One of the ESPN OR MLB Network guys (sorry I can’t remember the former player’s name) pointed out that the biggest thing prospects will learn in the minors is how to deal with failure.
For a lot life has been a cake walk until they are challenged.
Sparky Anderson used to say he hated when players have immediate success. Ruf has payed his dues.
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Any good way to evaluate his defense versus a couple of known guys at the same level? Is he on par with where Howard was in AA, for instance. I assume he’s ahead of where Rizz was, just from you saying it’s pretty solid, a claim no one ever really made about Rizz.
Keeping his K rate down around/under 20% all year would be great, especially against AA guys with their more refined stuff. Interesting guy to watch for sure.
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A question… Howard appears to be the better fielder although we can debate how much better. Ruf is a little more versatile. In A+, at age 23, Howard had a .991 fldng %. Ruf, at age 24, had a .992. Howard’s range factor (Putouts + assists)/games was 9.77 to Ruf’s 8.72. Howard had a lot more assists from his !B position.
In AA, at age 24, Howard had a .992 with a 8.67 RF/G. Ruff, at age 25 and in a significantly small sample size, has a .992 and 7.91. Again, it’s assists that make the difference.
Ruf has versatility on his side. He’s played 3B, LF and he’s even pitched an inning. These are such small sample sizes that it renders the data immaterial but he can play other places in a pinch. He actually had 2 assists from LF in 6 games in A+. He mopped up a game in A+ pitching an inning, giving up a hit and had a K.
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I have only seen Ruf once – last Saturday at Reading when they lost to the infamous Zack Segovia. Can’t say much for his bat that night, but he definitely looked like he had cement on his feet when it came to the field. There were two groundballs, one left and one right on which he barely moved, and they were not screamers. Unfortunately, there no challenging throws from his fellow infielders, so no idea of his capabilities there. Of course, if he could hit .330 in the bigs and drive in runs with two outs, much of the lack of defensive prowess is forgiven.
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I remember him catching my attention in that Clearwater game that was on TV last year (when a bunch of regulars were on rehab) I remember thinking, that guy is pretty big and swings it pretty well.
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then again, in that same game I can away unimpressed with Singleton. So what the hell do I know.
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I think the Phillies have concluded that Overbay cannot play 3B in the major leagues. They have had multiple chances to have him play 3B and have not. It isn’t like he would be taking the place of Ryan Zimmerman if played 3B for LHV right now.
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Lyle Overbeck!
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He played great for 12 years in Omaha, he is somebody who is going to make it.
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