Hanley says it’s on him
Now he has to fulfill vow
The Red Sox can’t afford to have Hanley Ramirez stay in a deep freeze at the plate any longer. Yesterday, he guaranteed he wouldn’t. If he’s right, good for him.
If he’s wrong, well, it’s on the Red Sox to make a change sooner rather than later and find another DH who can do the job Ramirez hasn’t. Ramirez is on the clock. “I should do better — hell, yeah, for real,” Ramirez said after taking a step toward his return with batting practice and defensive reps at first base prior to last night’s 4-1 loss to the Twins. “Yep, I’m saying it. You can write that down.” Done. That Ramirez went the route of Babe Ruth calling his shot, Joe Namath predicting a Super Bowl win and Muhammad Ali claiming victory at weigh-ins is a bold play. It’s also smarter than it sounds. It takes a bit of the heat off manager John Farrell and the coaches who so far have stood by Ramirez and his 29 RBI and .406 slugging percentage in 63 games.
Now, it’s up to Ramirez to come through.
And he will, he said, because he’s healthy now. His shoulders are now fine. He can drive the ball now and he can throw it without discomfort now.
So, Ramirez is going to start to play first base and he’s going to start mashing. He said so. It’s water under the bridge now, but if Ramirez’ shoulders were bothering him as much as he said they had been, he should have been placed on the DL to get healthy rather than not pose a threat in the lineup and place Mitch Moreland’s durability in jeopardy by playing far more first base than was good for him.
No looking back now for Ramirez, though. He’s healthy now. So that means looking ahead, Ramirez is aiming to approach David Ortiz-level of production rather than mount a weak facsimile.
“It’s right now,” Ramirez said of his health. “I’ve been working a lot on my shoulder program. I haven’t stopped.”
For his part, Farrell has had little choice but to keep playing Ramirez whenever he’s available. There have been challenges in the health department, from the hit-by-pitch sore knee that kept him out of the last three games but should allow his return tonight, a neck spasm, shoulder problems, hamstring, all of which, we must assume, were what kept him from getting on a first-half roll.
But because Ramirez is a veteran and a veteran who happened to be in a similar offensive funk at this stage of the season before turning it around with a superb second half — 22 home runs, 63 RBI, .284/.354/.593 — Farrell has patiently stayed in Ramirez’ corner.
Farrell could not, would not pin a moment on when a manager’s patience and faith turn into concern and worry.
“I think the one thing that we as an organization and me personally can’t turn away from is this guy had his best year career-wise from an offense standpoint a year ago,” Farrell said. “We know it’s not to that level yet but we’re not going to give up on him by any means and say ‘This isn’t going to happen.’ We see stretches where the impact of the baseball is to all fields, that’s always been the goal to get him to that. But I will tell you this, the work that he does with (hitting coach) Chili (Davis), the work he does in the cage, it’s consistent. He’s not giving up on himself and we’re not giving up on him.”
What gives Ramirez some rope when it comes to patience is the Red Sox’ place atop the AL East. That’s no small matter, and it really is about the only thing that has kept a fan base from pulling a justifiable full-fledged nutty over how ineffectual Ramirez has been.
Yet the Red Sox offense is not the threat it was a year ago, when Ortiz was mashing. They are now a mediocre run-scoring operation and the worst home run hitting team in the league.
“It’s not about me,” Ramirez said. “Look at the standings, it’s all about the team. I don’t put a lot of stuff in my head because we’re in first place and I’m not hot.
“It’s not just me. We win as a team, lose as a team. I know I can do better, I know that.”
And he knows he’s going to do better.
He did it at this time a year ago, and he can do it again.
“You don’t lose patience with veteran guys because they know what to do to get hot,” Ramirez said. “Veteran guys, they’re going to find a way.” Ramirez will find a way. And if he doesn’t, the Red Sox can find somebody else who can.