Boston Red Sox: Hanley Ramirez Continues to Struggle at the Plate

Coming into the season, most Boston Red Sox fans were worried about Hanley Ramirez’s transition from left field to first base and not about his swing. Now, 62 games into the season, concerns have shifted to his struggling bat.

After a horrendous 2015 in left field, the Boston Red Sox moved Hanley Ramirez to first base. The 2016 season would be Ramirez’s first season as a first basemen in his career, which drew many concerns from Red Sox Nation.

Now, 62 games into the season, Ramirez only has two errors while playing in 52 of the games. He has one error in the month of May and one in the month of June. He’s even made plays like this:

It is safe to say that Ramirez’s play at first base will be sufficient. But as for his hitting, that may need some improvement.

Ramirez’s struggles have gone pretty much unnoticed between the distraction that is Pablo Sandoval and his successes at first base. Now, Ramirez is starting to catch some flack as his average continues to drop.

Ramirez’s average has fallen to a season low .269 coming into Tuesday’s game with only four home runs. His last ding-dong came on May 10th during the Red Sox’s 40-run three-game series against the Oakland A’s. It was a bomb, and it ranks as the 10th-longest home run of the season according to the ESPN Home Run Tracker.

Since Ramirez’s last home run, he’s batting only .231 and slugging only .288. In his last 12 games, Ramirez has batted .133. Over those games he has 53 plate appearances with only six hits, with two of those being doubles.

Since the homer, Hanley has certainly struggled and for Red Sox fans, this should be a cause for concern.

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Hanley Ramirez plays a very crucial role in the Red Sox lineup since he protects David Ortiz in the batting order. When Ramirez doesn’t perform, he can’t protect Ortiz, allowing opposing pitchers to pitch to Ortiz more conservatively.

So, with Hanley’s troubles at the plate, is it time to move Ramirez from the fifth spot in the lineup?

I would say so, given that the Red Sox have plenty of capable hitters that can fill that spot in the lineup. Players like the hot-hitting Chris Young, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Travis Shaw if he breaks out of his similar slump in the near future.

Hanley Ramirez is important to the Red Sox offense and defense. After focusing on his success at first base, it is time to start trying to bring back the long ball hitter the Red Sox know he can be. If Hanley can break out of this, it could make for the most lethal 3-4-5 hitters in the league with AL batting leader Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz.

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The Red Sox certainly have much greater concerns to worry about, like how the pitching has been abysmal and has cost them numerous games. But Ramirez’s struggles at the plate affects everyone in the lineup, and he is someone to keep an eye on as the season rolls along.

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