Just say no WBC
Ballclub needs to make call on Hanley
FORT MYERS — Set up a blockade on Alligator Alley. Whatever it takes.
The Red Sox have to keep Hanley Ramirez from an eastbound trip on I-75 to Miami on Friday, and the team has that right.
Ramirez is unable to play first base in camp because of a sore throwing shoulder — a condition he has too much history with for the Sox to let him out of their sight for the World Baseball Classic. Even if the soreness is minor. He is supposed to join up with the Dominican Republic’s WBC team on the other Florida coast at the end of the week.
There’s already a planned conversation about whether Ramirez should go.
“John (Farrell) told me we’ll talk about it and what’s the best thing for me and the team,” Ramirez said of the word he received from his manager. “So let’s see what happens.”
Or, pull the plug now, end the suspense and keep him in the trainer’s room at JetBlue Park. This is a no-brainer, despite how much Ramirez wants to support the Dominican Republic.
“We haven’t gotten that detailed on it,” Farrell said when asked of the conversation Ramirez alluded to. “We’ve been trying to get the throwing program ramped up with him. Where this goes is yet to be determined. We know what his needs are to try to increase the throwing, and right now we’re at a bit of a plateau.”
That’s all you need to know. If there’s any doubt, keep him behind. A plateau is a doubt.
Right now, Ramirez’ hitting doesn’t appear affected. He roped a line single in the third inning yesterday at JetBlue in a 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Grapefruit League.
“We’re taking everything slowly, it’s a long spring training,” Ramirez said of the shoulder. “It’s not pain. I just lift a lot in the offseason always and you just get tight.”
A lot of people lift weights. A lot of people can also then throw normally when they get to camp after lifting.
Ramirez played winter ball to get ready for the WBC, but Farrell said the soreness doesn’t date back to then.
The Sox treated Ramirez gingerly last year when it came to throwing. A healthy year in 2016 doesn’t mean he’s all of a sudden sturdy. He’s had problems with both shoulders going back years.
Don’t create the possible perception of a mishandled situation, which is the door that opens if the Sox let Ramirez go.
The biggest fear, obviously, is Ramirez’ arm significantly worsening while away. But even if everything appears fine at the WBC — say Ramirez sees a little time as the designated hitter, does OK and comes back — questions can follow down the road.
Maybe it’s June and the shoulder becomes a greater issue. It’ll be too easy to wonder if the Sox could have done more to preempt trouble.
Chain of custody with a prized player is no small matter.
The trainers at the WBC come from big league teams, Chris Haydock, MLB’s senior director of international operations, said over the winter. But nothing is safer than keeping Ramirez under lock and key.
In 2015, Ramirez didn’t speak up about a right shoulder injury.
“This is not me,” Ramirez said that year, when he was struggling. “I’m such a good hitter, and I can’t look like that on the field. But I didn’t want to say anything because I wanted to play.”
Yesterday, Ramirez made clear he thinks the present situation is minor compared to what happened in ’15.
David Ortiz’ absence exacerbates this matter. Potentially losing Ramirez for any amount of time makes the lineup, the game’s best in 2016, look seriously lean. Mitch Moreland isn’t carrying the load for Ramirez or Ortiz, never mind both.
If the Sox don’t do absolutely everything they can to keep Ramirez healthy, they’ll have themselves to blame if he’s talking again this August about a shoulder injury he tried to play through.