From Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly comes word from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, on the status of outfielder Delmon Young and progress of outfield hopeful Darin Ruf.

On Young: Doctors checking up on his surgically repaired right ankle said it looks good, and greenlit him to start running on a treadmill.

On Ruf: Right now, he's not playing well enough to make the big-league team, but that there is enough time left in spring training for him to change that [CSN Philly]:

“Ruf has struggled in the outfield and offensively,” Amaro said. “But sometimes that happens. He’s a kid basically coming from Double A, though he did get a chance to be in the big leagues with us a little last year.

“He’s doing his best to get acclimated to left field, and he’s trying to impress with his bat. He’s probably trying to do a little too much. Whether he makes our club or not, that remains to be seen. I mean he’s going to have to play better than he is now to be on our major-league roster, but the fact of the matter is there’s a lot of things going on with him. We’re throwing a lot of stuff at him. I think with some time, hopefully he’ll start to relax and play the way we know he can play. He’s still learning and he’s still young as far as opportunity. This is his first [big-league] camp.”

 

To put it this way: the challenge for Ruf right now is not to prove himself a Josh Hamilton at the plate or Michael Bourn in the field. In fact, it's believed that his offensive performance this spring doesn't matter to the club nearly as much as what he did in Double-A, the big leagues and Venezuelan Winter League last year.
Basically, it's all about his glove work. He only needs to be Pat Burrell or Manny Ramirez -- both of whom Charlie Manuel has mentioned when talking about the defensive sacrifices he's made, and is willing to with Ruf, for big-time power sticks.
Problem is, to date, Ruf hasn't even been that.
Worse, it's thought to be hurting him at the plate. So far, he's gone 3-for-23 (.130) with one double and six strikeouts in eight games. He's not penned in the lineup today against the Washington Nationals and ace Stephen Strasburg.
Barring a turnaround, Ruf will start the season in Triple-A.

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