Ruf 'very happy to be back' with Giants after rough Mets tenure
Darin Ruf is thrilled to be back with the San Francisco Giants organization after a challenging tenure with the New York Mets, who released him before Opening Day.
"I am very happy to be back," Ruf told The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly after inking a minor-league deal with his former team.
"Last year … it didn't go the way I personally wanted it to. Obviously not for the Giants as a team, either. And getting traded didn't work out the way anyone wanted."
The Giants sent Ruf to the Mets in August in exchange for four players, including super-utility player J.D. Davis.
The Mets felt Ruf's high success rate against left-handed pitching would benefit their lineup amid a playoff push, but it didn't pay off.
Ruf hit .152/.216/.197 with zero homers and seven RBIs in 74 plate appearances in the Big Apple. He didn't show much improvement in spring training, posting a .498 OPS before he was released.
The 36-year-old admitted that moving in the wake of his father's death in May weighed on him. Struggling in a ravenous baseball city like New York didn't help, either.
"Anywhere you struggle, fans are going to be tough on you, but in New York, it's magnified," Ruf explained.
"I think the media there really runs with what fans' perceptions are. So you're kind of getting crushed by two entities. Even if you're not on social media a heck of a lot, you still have an idea and you see things."
Ruf is playing in extended spring training games after missing a week of action in transactional limbo. He's also recovering from a sore wrist.
The Omaha, Nebraska, native owned an .814 OPS with 32 homers in 247 games for the Giants from 2020-22.