The Milwaukee Brewer struggles against left-handed pitching have been well documented over the past few seasons. One thing that consistently seems to be working against the Brew Crew in these situations is that their platoon players had reverse splits. A few examples include right-handed hitters Keston Hiura and Luke Voit.
To begin the 2023 season, Keston Hiura was DFA’d and sent to the minor leagues. He had been on a hot streak at the plate, but is currently injured. Luke Voit on the other hand has struggled mightily and was just placed on the 10-day injured list with a neck strain.
With these two players temporarily out of commission the Milwaukee Brewers announced that they have signed free agent first baseman and outfielder Darin Ruf to a contract. He is active and with the team in St Louis. Perhaps the most important part of this equation is that he excels in a platoon role when facing left-handed pitchers.
Free agent Darin Ruf has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Throughout his nine year career 36 year old Darin Ruf has a career .886 OPS against left-handed pitchers and .665 against those that throw from the right side. Overall he has a career 109 OPS+ and he has a 101 OPS+ during the 2023 season. He became a free agent due to the San Francisco Giants designated him for assignment last week.
Contract wise Darin Ruff is due $3MM this year and comes with a $250K buyout on a 2024 option. The Brewers will only owe him the prorated league minimum but the New York Mets will also be responsible for a portion due to them acquiring him via trade at last year’s deadline and then releasing him in the offseason.
For now Darin Ruf likely will get the at-bats that Luke Voit was previously seeing. It will be interesting to see if he can make the most out of this opportunity with the Brewers.
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