Pittsburgh Pirates’ Aramis Ramirez willing to give first base a try
In what he has indicated could be his final season, veteran third baseman Aramis Ramirez found his way back to the franchise where he got his start over 17 years ago. The Milwaukee Brewers dealt Ramirez to the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 23. It adds some nice unintended symmetry to his extensive big league career, but Ramirez now has bigger plans for his swan song.
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Ramirez has played over 2,000 games at the hot corner in his MLB lifetime, but he is open to moving elsewhere on the field to help the Bucs during their playoff push. The recent acquisition has been manning third base since his arrival while Josh Harrison works his way back from a thumb injury. Sidelined for more than a month, Harrison began a minor league rehab assignment this week and could rejoin the club soon.
In order to give themselves added flexibility in working Ramirez’s bat into the lineup, the Pirates asked him if he would be willing to take some grounders at first. According to manager Clint Hurdle, he was very receptive to the idea: “He was all in and engaged for it. He said, ‘I want to win. I want to do whatever I can to help. I’ll try it. I’ll give it a shot.'”
The corner-of-the-diamond switch is certainly not unprecedented, but it is always refreshing to see a longtime vet agree to wear whatever hats (or gloves) his team requests in an effort to make the postseason. Though he has three All-Star nods and a Silver Slugger under his belt, Ramirez has gone somewhat underappreciated throughout his time in the majors. He is eighth among active players with 380 career home runs and seventh with 1,391 RBI. He has also finished in the top-10 in MVP voting three times (2004, 2008, 2012).
Postseason appearances have been in short supply during his career, however, and more of them may have helped widen his profile. Ramirez has played in three postseasons, most recently in 2008 with the Cubs. After being swapped from the lowly Brewers to the Pirates this year, he has a chance to get one last shot at the bright lights of October. Though Pittsburgh trails St. Louis by six games in the NL Central, they currently hold one of the league’s Wild Card berths.
Ramirez hasn’t been setting the world on fire in his first few weeks back in a black-and-gold uniform, going 14-for-59 (.237) with seven RBI in his first 15 games. His overall numbers on the season are also significantly below his career averages: a .246/.289/.405 slash line with 11 homers and 49 RBI. Not to mention the league-high 17 times he has grounded into a double play.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Veteran players in their career twilights have been known to perk up at the opportunity of playing for a contender, though, and Pittsburgh will hope this proves to be the case with Ramirez over the season’s final two months. He could have his work cut out for him in maintaining consistent playing time, however.
Other recent imports, such as utility men Michael Morse and Travis Ishikawa, have experience playing first. Usual first baseman Pedro Alvarez has struggled through large stretches of the season both offensively and defensively, but he seems to have found his stroke in the last couple weeks, hitting .318 with three long balls and nine RBI over his last fourteen games.
Alvarez has routinely been a strikeout machine though, and that hasn’t changed much, even during his recent hot stretch (11 K in his last 30 PA). If he starts to falter again, his new understudy at first base could quickly find himself called upon at that position. In the meantime, Ramirez will have to work on getting his swing right to make himself an appealing option for his new club, wherever on the field it might need him.