New York Mets designated hitter and first baseman Darin Ruf received an injection on Monday morning in his right wrist due to soreness stemming from arthritis in the area.
“It’s something over the last few years that has bothered me,” Ruf said on Tuesday (h/t SNY). “Ramping up for this spring it got to a point where I thought it’d be beneficial to take care of it instead of trying to grind through it another year.”
The 36-year-old will be limited over the next two-to-three days but he’s “not concerned,” that this could translate into anything more.
“I got an MRI and it showed some arthritis in my wrist and hopefully the cortisone will help,” Ruf said, adding that he’s not concerned that it will develop into anything more. “I’ll be swinging in a couple days.”
Ruf remains firmly in the mix for designated hitter at-bats for the Mets this season despite a disappointing stint with the team last year following his acquisition from the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline.
The eight-year veteran slashed just .152/.216/.197 (.413 OPS) in 66 at-bats across 28 games in New York. The kind of production didn’t come anywhere near what the Mets were hoping to get from Ruf in the hopes of creating a DH platoon alongside Daniel Vogelbach.
The right-handed Ruf possesses an .891 career OPS against left-handed batters.
“I think midseason trades are tough on anybody,” Ruf said. “I think performance stems from being comfortable and being in rhythm. When a midseason trade happens it effects people differently and I think my performance suffered from that.”
While Vogelbach is expected to get most of the at-bats against right-handed pitchers, Ruf seems to have competition in Mets camp with Tommy Pham — the veteran outfielder with an .843 career OPS against lefties also in the mix for time at DH.
