The Mets will start Darin Ruf at DH instead of Francisco Alvarez in Game 2 of their wild-card series against the San Diego Padres.
The decision will come with some amount of controversy. Ruf holds an average of .152 over his last thirty games. Alvarez was only called up to the Major League roster recently, and excited the fan base when he cracked his first home run on October first in a home game against the Washington Nationals. He was subsequently included on the team’s wild-card roster.
Mets’ manager Buck Showalter cited two primary reasons to reporters for the choice. Ruf has had success against both the Padres and tonight’s starter. He’s 3-7 with a home run against San Diego’s starter Blake Snell, and has also hit five home runs against the Padres with an .815 OPS overall.
Buck also mentioned that starting Ruf will allow him to manage aggressively and pinch hit when necessary.
Ruf will bat eighth in the order this evening as the Mets try to keep their championship hopes alive in Flushing.
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