Darin Ruf believes his struggles with the Mets were “magnified” because he was playing in New York.

The 36-year-old was brought to Flushing at last year’s trade deadline to provide right-handed pop as a platoon player, but never hit a home run across 77 plate appearances (including playoffs) before the Mets gave up on him at the end of spring training last month.

Ruf hit .152 with a .413 OPS and seven RBIs across 28 regular-season games for the Mets, and he was heavily scrutinized after the Mets dealt corner infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis, left-handers Thomas Szapucki and Nick Zwack and right-hander Carson Seymour to the Giants to get him.

“Anywhere you struggle, fans are going to be tough on you but in New York, it’s magnified,” Ruf, who rejoined the Giants on a minor league deal on Saturday, told The Athletic. “I think the media there really runs with what fans’ perceptions are. So you’re kind of getting crushed by two entities. Even if you’re not on social media a heck of a lot, you still have an idea and you see things.”

Ruf has good career numbers against left-handers, having hit .272 with an .891 OPS, 39 home runs, and 102 RBIs in 706 career plate appearances against lefties.

Over his last 22 regular-season games, Ruf was 4-for-48 against all pitchers with 16 strikeouts.

He started at DH in Game 2 of the Mets’ wild-card series against the Padres on Oct. 8, going 0-for-1 with a walk and a strikeout, and he was removed for a pinch-runner in the sixth after being hit by a pitch.

Ruf played most of last season with a heavy heart as his father, Bill, died in late May.

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“I think a lot of people feel that athletes, if they do a certain thing well, they should be able to do it well anywhere at any time,” Ruf told The Athletic. “But throughout life, you’ll be in different stages of emotional stability and mental stability. When a lot of things get thrown your way at once, it’s hard to perform every single night on a stage like New York or really anywhere in Major League Baseball.

“Baseball is a very tough game and you have to be in a very good spot mentally to have success. I’m hoping I can get back to that.”

Ruf hopes to regain the form he had with the Giants in 2021, when he slashed .283/.414/.593 against left-handers.

“I am very happy to be back,” Ruf said. “Last year … it didn’t go the way I personally wanted it to. Obviously not for the Giants as a team, either. And getting traded didn’t work out the way anyone wanted.”