Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #404 Darin Ruf

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #404.
• Player Name, position, team: Darin Ruf, first baseman, Gulf Coast League Phillies.
• Level-League, Team Affiliation: Rookie-Gulf Coast League, Philadelphia Phillies.
  
• Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 20 G, 43 AB, 5 R, 14 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 8 SO, .395 SLG, .795 OPS, .326 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies #20th, June 2009. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Major League Debut: September 14, 2012.
• Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: n/a.
• Blurb on the back: "Ruf enjoyed a smooth transition to the pros in 2009, debuting with a .326 average in 20 Gulf Coast League games. The No. 2 RBI man in Creighton University history drove in 24 runs in 37 contests after being promoted to Williamsport. He joined Clearwater in '10 following a .330-4-17 start for Lakewood."
• Official Topps Rookie Card: 2013 Topps #83.
• Commentary: When your major league club already has a man who plays your position signed to a long term deal (signed a five-year deal through 2016 with an option for 2017), injured or not, he's not going anywhere. What are your options? Hope to be traded? Perhaps. But if you don't want to be a journeyman before making it to the majors, you do what is best for your organization...and your chances of making the majors. You learn a new position. Such was the case for Darin Cortland Ruf. A first baseman (as seen on his first and only Pro Debut card), Ruf began the transition from infielder to outfielder slowly. In 2010, Ruf played for both the Lakewood BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League and Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League. Combined, he appeared in 129 games, hit for a .290 average, 9 home runs, 67 rbi's, and percentages of .363/.451/.814. From 2011 through 2013, Ruf climbed the ladder, spending a full year in Clearwater, then spending the following season with the AA-Reading Phillies of the Eastern League where he showed big time power on the heels of 38 home runs, 104 rbi's, a .317 average and an OPS of 1.028. Thanks to those strong numbers, the Phillies rewarded him with a September call-up. He would start the 2013 campaign with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, but it was only a matter of time before he would be called up to the big leagues for good. Many feel that he was robbed recently of earning a spot on the 2013 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. But the Phillies know that they have a guy who can give Domonic Brown, Ben Revere, and Delmon Young big-time competition for a spot on the 2014 Phillies opening day roster. 

Next week's featured card will be: 2013 Topps Pro Debut #158. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama