The 33-year-old spent five years of his career shuttling between the Philadelphia Phillies and their minor league teams from 2012-2016. His career was not going anywhere fast.
Ruf had hit .240 across 737 at-bats, with just 35 home runs and a .747 OPS to show for it. When he wasn't playing at first base, he was playing in left field, and those aren't the kind of numbers you expect to get from either position. All told, his career totaled a worse-than-replacement-level -0.7 WAR.
His second MLB season may have been his best: he hit 14 home runs and had an .