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Phils hope promising 1B Joseph can provide boost
- Updated: May 13, 2016
PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies selected the contract of first baseman Tommy Joseph from Triple-A Lehigh Valley prior to Friday’s 3-2 win over the Reds. In a corresponding move, Darin Ruf was optioned to Triple-A.
Joseph was hitting .347 with six home runs in 27 games for Lehigh Valley. The 24-year-old is leading the International League in OPS with a .981 mark. In his Major League debut on Friday, Joseph went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
“I like his approach. For his first game in the big leagues, I think he got that out of the way, he got his feet wet,” said Phillies manager Pete Mackanin. “I think he’s going to be fine. He’s got a good approach. He’s relaxed at the plate. He just had a couple pitches to hit that he swung through and missed but I like his approach.”
Philadelphia’s first basemen are hitting .174 with eight home runs (eight from Ryan Howard) and a .624 OPS. Ruf was hitting .158 with no homers and three RBIs in 31 games.
“That’s one of the reasons that we’re making the move,” Mackanin said before Friday’s game. “This is the start of ways to improve the offense, and we’re hoping he can do it.”
Mackanin isn’t sure of how the young first baseman will be used. When he delivered the news to Ruf that he’d been sent down, Mackanin gave him an excuse for his struggles: the Phillies …
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