Philadelphia Phillies keep Carlos Ruiz for upcoming season as they exercise option - MLB
Catcher Carlos Ruiz has been rewarded after he played a decisive role offensively for Philadelphia Phillies during the season. The club has invoked the option on Ruiz as opposed to getting rid of him through buyout.
The Phillies were below par in the recently concluded regular season. In almost every area, they confronted weak-links.
Against the backdrop of injuries to some of the hitters, their offence struggled immensely.
Without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard at the beginning of the season, they did not have reliable batters in the line-up that could lift them and help the club win matches.
It is no wonder that the Phillies piled up defeats.
Their offence made it extremely difficult for the pitchers to record wins. In some of the matches the Phillies’ hurlers dominated but thanks to the poor run-support they had to experience losses.
Cliff Lee can be cited as one of those pitchers that bore the brunt of the mediocre shows coming off the Phillies’ batters.
In the midst of failures by the hitters, the Phillies saw Ruiz turning out to be a bright spot in their offence. Ruiz struck hits and produced home-runs on regular basis. Although he sustained an injury during the season, his offensive numbers remained incredible.
As an acknowledgement of his achievements in the first half of the season, he was given a place on the All-Star Game roster. He was called up to do the catching job in the ASG.
Ruiz can be even more effective next year. The consistency that he showed during the season can make one believe that he becomes a leading performer for the team in the upcoming season.
Phillies are h**l-bent to reclaim their National League East Division title after it has been lost to the Washington Nationals this year. They have been winning it for the last five years. Disgruntled Phillies’ fans are desperate to witness a much improved
performance in 2013 Major League regular season from their team.
In order to make sure they live up to the expectations of the fans, the Phillies will be bringing changes in their roster during the offseason.
The retention of Ruiz is an indication of their intent and as to what kind of roles they are expecting the players to perform.
It will be interesting to see how Ruiz performs in the next season.
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