Ruf critique at plate: ‘It hasn’t been good’
Darin Ruf acknowledged what Mets fans have noticed: His at-bats since joining the club have not been great.
“It’s a constant process to figure out a lot of things with hitting,” the struggling part-time DH said before the Mets’ 6-4 loss to the Marlins at Citi Field on Tuesday. “Feeling comfortable in the box, getting your timing, making sure your pitch recognition is there.
“It hasn’t been good.”
Ruf, through 28 games since he was acquired at the trade deadline from the Giants, has not hit. Appearing generally against lefty pitchers, the righty slugger is batting just .152 without a home run as a Met.
He was acquired to fill the hole that J.D. Davis (who was traded for Ruf) never filled. While Daniel Vogelbach has excelled from the left side, Ruf has disappointed, which led to a conversation with assistant hitting coach Jeremy
Barnes on Tuesday.
The two “went through some things that hopefully might help,” said Ruf, who did not reveal the specifics of the changes that are being worked on. “Just changing my approach a little bit to hopefully work with the role I have here a little bit more. Understand what the situation calls for.”
Ruf is running out of time to convince the Mets he belongs on their postseason roster. He and rookie Mark Vientos have been battling for atbats at DH against opposing lefties, and neither has claimed the job. Vientos, though, smacked his first career home run Saturday.
The Mets faced three lefties starters in their recent series against Oakland. Ruf went 2-for-12 with a walk, and Vientos was 3-for-7 with that homer and two walks.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Ruf said, when asked if there was enough time to make a push for the playoff roster. “I’m trying to figure out today and figure out how to have the best atbat that I can and move forward from there.”
➤ The Mets were on the right side of a bizarre piece of history Tuesday night.
In the eighth inning, Jeff McNeil singled against Marlins lefty Richard Bleier, then came around to score on three balks, all while Pete Alonso was at bat.
Bleier was pitching in his 304th major league game and had never been called for a balk. He was increasingly irate after each call, made by first-base umpire John Tumpane. Miami manager Don Mattingly stormed out of the dugout after the third balk (which sent McNeil home) and was ejected after arguing with both Tumpane and homeplate umpire Ryan Blakney for several minutes.
Buck Showalter said the league had alerted teams “not too long ago” that there would be a greater emphasis on balks when pitchers did not come to a complete stop.