Ruf dealing with wrist ailment as he starts pivotal spring training

“It’s bugged me over the last couple of years. It’s something that was bothersome, but I thought I could get through it.”

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The Mets have stayed relatively healthy through the first week of spring training but there are few players dealing with minor ailments. Manager Buck Showalter said there are a handful of guys who they will “slow play” this week and they may not get into Grapefruit League games right away.

One of those players is DH Darin Ruf, who received a cortisone injection in his right wrist and is currently limited to defensive drills right now because of it. An MRI revealed only arthritis, and since this is something Ruf has dealt with in the past, there is no concern.

“None,” Ruf said. “I’ll be swinging in a couple of days.”

He started to feel wrist pain in January when he was ramping up his offseason work in anticipation of spring training. In the past, he’s played through it, but decided to try to rest it this time.

“It’s bugged me over the last couple of years. It’s something that was bothersome, but I thought I could get through it,” Ruf said Tuesday at Clover Park. “And then as I progressed this offseason, not only was it not getting better, but it was getting worse. And so it’s not something that I wanted to try to [to push through]. I don’t think I could have been as productive as I need to be with having to go through the way it was feeling.”

The problem is that the wrist only bothers Ruf when he’s swinging a bat and making contact — Ruf ’s only job as a DH is to swing a bat and connect with the ball. He’s under a microscope

— Darin Ruf

of sorts after a dismal showing in Queens last season and there is obvious pressure to perform.

Ruf was acquired at the deadline from the San Francisco Giants to provide more power against lefthanded pitching. His numbers had started to dip in San Francisco before the trade, but he was out of sorts right away in New York, hitting just .152 for the Mets. Ruf found it difficult to adjust after a midseason trade and everything that had gone right in 2021 went wrong in 2022.

“Inches matter in this game,” Ruf said. “In 2021, when I had my best year, I felt like every inch went my way. Every ball that I hit just went off someone’s glove or over the fence. If they were going to make a diving play, they just missed it. Last year, a lot of the times, it was the reverse for me.”

To make matters worse, J.D. Davis went to the Giants in exchange. While the third baseman had been a frequent target of Mets fans for defensive miscues, Davis thrived playing a few hours away from the Sacramento area where he grew up. Davis hit .263 with eight home runs and an .857 OPS in 49 games with the Giants.

“I think that’s one of the ways that we could get better,” Showalter said. “I think Darin is going to be better.”