Ramirez snaps slump with HR
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Hanley Ramirez might or might not be trying out a new batting stance after enduring a 31-game slump, but either way, the Red Sox first baseman was feeling good after hitting a laser for a goahead homer last night.
It was just his second long ball in the past 32 games, and it put the Red Sox ahead in the sixth inning before Koji Uehara allowed three runs in the eighth. The Red Sox lost to the White Sox, 8-6, at Fenway Park.
Hours before the game, hitting coach Chili Davis said Ramirez had been working on a new stance that began with his hands high above his head, a stance he used in 2014 with the Dodgers when he hit .283 with an .817 OPS.
The struggling first baseman has been starting his swing with his hands and elbow tucked in low below his chest. Davis thought the low setup had been interfering with Ramirez’ leg kick before each swing and might have contributed to the slump, during which he hit .195 with a .540 OPS in 31 games.
“I think he’s making an adjustment,” Davis said. “He’s got his hands up a little higher today. . . . If you look at him in 2014 with the Dodgers, he had a leg kick, but his hands were higher and they were freer, and the leg kick didn’t matter then. I think he’s moved his hands, and the leg kick now is kind of getting in the way of the hands.”
In his first two at-bats, Ramirez appeared to be using the new stance and was waggling the bat high above his head. He grounded into a double play and struck out looking.
By his third at-bat, Ramirez looked like he was back to his old ways, keeping his hands low in a relaxed position. On an outside pitch from Jose Quintana, he drilled a line drive over the right field fence.
Asked about the work he had been doing with his hitting coach, Ramirez said, “Chili, he don’t know that, man. I know what I need to do to get out of a slump. Yeah, I’ve been working with him in the cage. I listen to him. I try to pick some things. But for me personally, I don’t try to put too many things in my head.
“It’s simple man. Hitting has never been that hard for me. Sometimes you just put too many things in your head, and sometimes you just have to let it go, go out there and swing out of your (butt).”
Ramirez was dropped to seventh in the batting order last night. He hadn’t started a game as low as seventh since he was a rookie with the Marlins in 2006. Chris Young hit fifth behind David Ortiz.
Holt close to return
Even if he isn’t at 100 percent, Brock Holt feels like he’s almost ready to help the Red Sox. They need him. Manager John Farrell currently is trying to utilize a bench that includes Marco Hernandez, Ryan LaMarre,
Sandy Leon and Deven Marrero, lifetime minor leaguers who entered last night with a combined .207 average in 329 career major league at-bats.
Only three MLB teams have fewer hits off the bench than the Red Sox, whose pinch hitters are 5-for-38 with 17 strikeouts.
Holt is hoping he can rejoin the club soon, though he admitted before last night’s game that he’s still not feeling totally recovered from a concussion suffered May 9. He’s been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket and played in back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday, going 3-for-6 with two doubles, a walk and a strikeout.
“It felt good,” Holt said yesterday. “It felt good to be back out there competing again, playing. It didn’t feel as good as I wanted to feel, but I definitely felt better, so I’m moving in the right direction. It didn’t affect me too much.”
Playing through concussion symptoms isn’t ideal, but Holt said it’s all part of a plan laid out by concussion specialist Micky Collins.
“I’ve been playing through it this whole time. I just haven’t been playing in any games,” Holt said. “It’s not going to set me back. It’s just the next step.
“They were good days. I felt good. I felt like I could actually compete at a level I would be happy with. I didn’t feel like that last week or so when I was trying to play (with the Red Sox) before I got put on the DL.”
Holt will play today and tomorrow in Pawtucket, playing third base, shortstop and left field before the Red Sox make any further plans for him.
“I need at-bats, too,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had any at-bats. Getting at-bats and getting my timing back is where we are at right now.”
If the concussion symptoms don’t go away, he’s considering playing through them if he thinks he can help the big league club.
“I don’t know, it depends how I feel,” he said. “I feel like right now, I could play.”
Shaw in pain
The Red Sox might be missing their third baseman again today.
Despite taking a foul ball off the shin on Tuesday night, Travis Shaw was in the lineup yesterday but lasted only three innings. He singled in his first at-bat but made an error that led to a White Sox run in the third inning. Afterward, he decided his sore shin was making him a liability on the field, and he took himself out of the game. Marrero filled in.
“It kept tightening up,” Shaw said. “I just didn’t feel like I had enough to be effective defensively.”
Shaw said he’s hopeful he can play today, but he admitted the pain has been getting worse since the injury occurred. ...
Injured catcher Ryan Hanigan (strained neck) could begin a rehab assignment as soon as today, Farrell said. The manager was unsure how long Hanigan would need to be out on rehab before he’s ready to rejoin the Red Sox.