It’s early yet, goodness knows, and a lot can still happen. But 10 days into the 2018 season, my sense is the debate about whether Hanley Ramirez accumulates enough at-bats to vest his option for 2019 will seem downright quaint in a few months.
As most surely know by now, the most talked about preseason number associated with any individual on the Red Sox was 497 – that is, the number of plate appearances Ramirez needs (along with good health at the end of the year) to guarantee another season with the club.
Ramirez’s 2016 season presented no such assurances. His OPS dropped nearly 120 points from the previous season and his RBI total dipped from 111 in 2016 to 62 last year. Ramirez looked like a broken-down slugger, wheezing his way to the finish line.
But there was a reason for his dropoff. His left shoulder was a mess, making it impossible at times to take proper swings. He couldn’t drive the ball, as his paltry .429 slugging percentage indicated. After undergoing surgery last fall, Ramirez looks more and more like his old self.
“He’s dangerous again,’’ noted a scout who watched Ramirez early in the season. “He’s got his bat speed back and he can still drive the ball.’’
In the first half-dozen games, he’s knocked in six runs – including three in extra-innings in consecutive games. He doubled in the 13th inning in his adopted hometown of Miami Monday night, then drove a bases-loaded single over the head of Rays right fielder Carlos Gomez to cap a 12-inning comeback win in Thursday’s home opener.
Two games aren’t about to change the course of history, or even Ramirez’s career path. But they represent evidence that Ramirez is healthy once more and a dangerous run-producer in a deep, strong – albeit one which has underachieved in the first week and a half – lineup.
It’s easy to be cynical about Ramirez. He’s done his share of alienating in all three major league stops – Miami, Los Angeles and Boston. He didn’t always hustle as a young, uber-talented player with the Marlins. He could be moody and detached with the Dodgers. And to be sure, he failed to properly commit to playing the outfield during his first season with the Red Sox.
Taking him out of the outfield and shifting him to first was, in retrospect, a smart play since it forced Ramirez to become invested again. Unlike the outfield, when he felt isolated on an island, moving to first made him feel involved and invested again. He felt responsible to his teammates in the infield and worked to make himself a competent first baseman, and at the plate, it was no coincidence he enjoyed his best season with the Red Sox and best since 2013 when he missed half the season to injury but managed a 1.040 OPS.
Ramirez had his heart set on succeeding the retired David Ortiz at DH in 2017.
“That was a big deal to him,’’ said one baseball person. “He saw it as the torch being passed to him. He wanted that to be part of his legacy (in the Dominican Republic) that he was the guy who succeeded David.’’
The Red Sox, meanwhile, had other ideas. They wanted him to play a lot of first base, but that plan was scrubbed because of his shoulder woes.
A rejuvenated Ramirez reported to spring training leaner and intent on exhibiting his athleticism. He constantly reminded reporters he was intent on having a 30-30 season – 30 stolen bases and 30 homers. Heading into Saturday, he had a homer and two steals, including one in Tampa Bay which led directly to a run.
The lazy take has been to link Hanley with Manny Ramirez, with whom he shares a surname and a homeland. In reality, while Manny may have been a far better hitter, Hanley is a far better teammate and eminently more likable.
(One Red Sox official once only half-jokingly noted when Hanley was a prospect of great promise in the Red Sox’ system that it was a goal to make sure he never played with Manny, for fear that the latter’s insolence would rub off.)
Hanley loves being around children – few Sox players spend more time signing autographs pre-game – and was genuinely moved by the plight of a handicapped child seated near the Red Sox dugout last Monday in Miami, enough so that he vowed to try to hit a home run for him. When he made good on his promise in the game, Ramirez enthusiastically took off his uniform top post-game and gave it to the child.
For much of spring training, Ramirez was joined by two of his sons, who accompanied him on the first road trip, and their mere presence seemed to fill him with both pride and joy, lifting his already upbeat mood.
To his credit, whenever the question of plate appearances and vesting options was introduced during spring training, Ramirez always responded the same way: “I just want to win.’’ It’s a theme he’s returned to repeatedly in postgame interviews.
Ramirez cited that as his motivation when he signed in Boston. Traded away after 2005 when he was on the cusp of graduating to the big leagues, he felt he had unfinished business with the Red Sox. While he was away from the organization, the team that scouted him and signed him at 16 had won three World Series.
He felt he missed out on something. Maybe he’ll get his chance this fall.
And, if he keeps producing the way he has, the opportunity to try again in 2019.
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