Phils' Ruf: In left or left out?

CLEARWATER, Fla. - When Ryne Sandberg wrote out his lineup for the first of 32 exhibition games this spring - and the only one of those games against a collegiate team - he left the majority of regulars out of action. Nearly every member of the Phillies' projected starting lineup got the afternoon off.

Except Darin Ruf, who started in leftfield and batted cleanup against the University of Tampa yesterday, and might or might not be a regular in 2015.

"I'm really excited to get going, play a real opponent and see live pitching," Ruf said while enjoying a cup of coffee early yesterday morning.

Ruf has been in Clearwater for a month. He was working out with a group that included third baseman Cody Asche and catching prospect Tommy Joseph well before the team opened official workouts last month.

But whether he will join Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz and company in the Phillies' starting lineup 5 weeks from today, on April 6 at Citizens Bank Park against the Boston Red Sox, is uncertain.

Ruf, who turns 29 in July, is competing with Grady Sizemore, Rule 5 pick Odubel Herrera and roster hopeful Jordan Danks for leftfield playing time in 2015.

"It all depends on him," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said of Ruf, who has played parts of the last three seasons with the Phillies. "He's going to get opportunities to play. Sizemore looks very good. The decisions that we make will be based on performance here in spring, whether we think they can help us on a regular basis during the season. And once we break with the team, it's going to be about [manager Ryne Sandberg] trying to put the best team out there to win baseball games."

What Ruf has going for him: He's a righthanded hitter. After trading Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd this winter, the Phillies' projected lineup is lefty-heavy, especially in the top half of the order with Ben Revere, Utley, Howard and Domonic Brown.

What Ruf doesn't have going for him: He's a natural first baseman.

While Ruf feels comfortable in leftfield, a position he first began playing late in the 2012 season, the Phillies' brass hasn't ever given the impression that it is content with him out there on a regular basis. See: signing Byrd to a 2-year contract last winter . . . after Ruf hit .247 with 14 home runs and an .806 OPS while playing regularly (at first base) in place of Howard in the final 3 months of the 2013 season.

With Byrd gone and an opening in a corner outfield spot - Brown is moving from left to right - could Amaro see Ruf starting, say, five games a week in left?

"I don't know," Amaro said. "He could. He could. We'll find out. We'll find out a little more about him. He's not an outfielder per se, but he seems to move fine out there and he doesn't seem to make mistakes. It's still a learning process for him . . . You can't lose sight of the defense. And we have to be aware of that. We have to win games playing all phases of the games. Defense and pitching are important. Guys have to be good enough defensively not to be liabilities out there, so they can help us win games."

Given the Phillies' offensive struggles in the last few seasons, and then trading off two of their better bats this winter, aren't they in a position now where they can sacrifice some defense to see if there is a potential long-term upgrade to their offense?

"Maybe," Amaro said. "Once the season starts, we're going to be trying to find out some things, but the purpose is to win games . . . The fact that we've talked about this rebuilding stuff doesn't mean that we're planning on losing games."

Given the Phillies' change of direction this winter, committing to a rebuild that includes filtering in younger players, don't they have to give Ruf a longer look in 2015?

"We're trying to find out some things about all of our players," Amaro said. "I could also see Darin getting some reps at first base and playing during the regular season. Ryan Howard right now is our first baseman and we plan on him being our everyday first baseman - but that doesn't mean he has to play every day."

Three springs ago, in 2012, Ruf came into his first major league camp off a monster season at Double A (.317, 1.028 OPS, 38 home runs in 139 games) but no regular place to play. He arrived in the big leagues in September and hit three home runs in 12 games.

In 2013, Ruf again didn't have a place to play when camp opened. But in July, when Howard had season-ending knee surgery, Ruf arrived and held his own, finishing the season third on the team in home runs (despite playing for just 3 months) and sported an identical OBP to Utley (.348).

In 2014, however, he arrived to camp again without a place to play, since Byrd was signed as a free agent and a healthy Howard was back at first base. A big-league bench job was lost, too, for the majority of the year when he suffered an oblique injury at the end of spring training and then injured a knee and wrist crashing into a wall at Triple A.

In 2015, Ruf appears to have an opportunity for more playing time. But he said his outlook hasn't changed.

"First and foremost, I want to make the team," said Ruf, who had a single in three at-bats yesterday. "Spring training is a difficult thing. I haven't put up good numbers in spring in the last 2 years. I want to make the team. I'm not going to worry about numbers, because you see a couple of guys every year who have unbelievable spring trainings and then struggle once the season starts.

"That might be taking advantage of pitchers early in the count, things like that, where it's a little more difficult to do that in the season. So I know I want to have good enough results to make the team and hopefully win a job, but I want to prepare myself to succeed in the regular season as well. I might have to work on things early that will make me successful, but it's still like a work in progress for me."

On the offensive side, Ruf is working with Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt this spring. On defense, he's getting reps alongside Howard in drills while also keeping his legs in gear in leftfield.

"I think I've gotten a little more athletic, more versatile," Ruf said of where he is now compared to when he arrived in his first camp 3 years ago. "[Now] I feel like I can hold my own in the outfield. My arm strength has increased. I'm probably just a better overall baseball player in general."

But whether that will translate to getting a full-time look in the Phillies' lineup is the great unknown.

"The few times I've talked to Ryno and Ruben, it's just to, 'Keep doing what you're doing,' " Ruf said. "They know what they have with me, in a sense. They don't know what I can do, I guess, over the course of a season. They know that I'm a guy that'll work hard, that'll be a team player, do things they ask me to do."