Darin Ruf falls down. (PHOTO: Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

The Phillies' Darin Ruf can hit. That much isn't really in question: He smacked 38 home runs in 139 games at Double-A Reading in 2012, then three more in a 12-game cameo with the Major League club in September.

What's less certain is that Ruf will ever play left field well enough to justify keeping his bat in the lineup. The 26-year-old slugger mostly played first base in the minors, but the Phillies are committed to first baseman Ryan Howard to the tune of a nine-figure contract that takes him through at least 2016. So Ruf's working on his play in the outfield this spring.

It's not going so well. Look:

Above, Ruf lines up and chases down a Freddie Freeman fly ball on the warning track on Monday, only to lose it to the left-field berm when he crashes into the fence. Then Ruf falls down, perplexed and pathetic.

Worse yet, this is not the first ball the would-be outfielder has misplayed that wound up on the wrong side of the outfield fence this spring. Just a couple of weeks ago, in an exhibition game against the Dominican Republic, Ruf failed to track down a catchable fly that became a ground-rule double.