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First Posted: 3/15/2013

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Hours before the Philadelphia Phillies played an exhibition game, Darin Ruf had sweat dripping down his face and soaking through his grey T-shirt.

Just another day at the ballpark.

Ruf’s pregame routine this spring includes plenty of extra work. After all, he’s trying to learn a new position. The minor-league home run champion is adjusting to left field after playing first base almost exclusively since his days at Creighton University.

So far, it’s been a slow process.

“I’ve been trying to improve every single day,” Ruf said. “It wasn’t what I expected myself to be defensively right off the bat. I’m getting in as much work before the game as I can, working with the coordinators, taking as many fly balls as possible. I think I’ve come a long way. Hopefully it’ll transfer into the game.”

The Phillies were hoping Ruf would be ready to start opening day. He’d fit perfectly in a left-handed heavy lineup that includes Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the Nos. 3 and 4 spots.

But the team has no plans to rush him if his defense isn’t up to par. At this point, it seems likely that Ruf will open the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley to gain more experience.

“He really hasn’t played the outfield before and it’s a challenge,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “It’s hard enough to be a major league outfielder and be adequate. It may require him some more time; it may not. It depends on how he finishes out this camp. He has a good head on his shoulders and he has a lot of ability so it’s a matter of him continuing to learn. We think eventually he can make himself an adequate outfielder, but that remains to be seen. That’s why we’re giving him reps out there and seeing whether he can do it or not.”

The 26-year-old Ruf burst on the scene last year when he started hitting bombs with regularity at Double-A Reading, earning the nickname “Babe.” He smacked 38 homers, including 20 in August. He hit three more in 33 at-bats with the Phillies in September, and tore up the Venezuelan League in winter ball.

His 38 homers at Reading broke Howard’s former club record. Howard, the former NL MVP, is blocking Ruf’s path at first base. That’s why he’s in left now.

Ruf made a couple errors early in the spring and is still learning the nuances of playing the outfield. It requires more than just catching fly balls.

“I’ve been working on the fundamentals of throwing,” he said.

Another part of playing the outfield that gets little attention is the ability to take the right angle to balls on hits and keeping runners from taking the extra base. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel stresses the importance of preventing runners from going from first to third on singles and holding guys to singles on balls in the gaps.

“That’s a lot of the mental part of playing in the outfield,” Ruf said. “I’ve talked to a lot of veteran players about that and they stress it’s even more important to know what you are going to do before it happens, know who the runners are, know that if a catcher is hitting you may have a little more time on a ball hit down the line than if a speedster is up there.”