Boston Red Sox: Is Hanley Ramirez due for a big year?

A good Hanley Ramirez will take the Boston Red Sox a long way in 2018. He’s off to a great start, but is he in for a big year? What signs can we look for in a sample as small as five games? There are a few.

There was a joke about Josh Beckett while played for the Boston Red Sox. “Even year” Beckett was the bad version, while the “odd year” Beckett was good. So far, the opposite rings true for a certain prodigal son who returned to the team in 2015, in Hanley Ramirez. Is he set for a big year?

His wRC+’s since signing with the Red Sox have gone 90, 128 and 93. In the very young 2018 season, he is sporting a nifty 145 or is 45% better than league average. What’s more important than the fantastic SSS results is how he looks so far on the field. In game one of the Marlins series, he blasted his first home run and stole his second base.

Perhaps even more impressive, he had two great defensive plays late in the game. One was a long stretch and scoop of an errant throw from Rafael Devers with runners on second and third and nobody out.

The other was a diving play on a scorcher to his right for the second out of the inning:

If Red Sox fans are going to get excited about Hanley this early, it should be because of the fact that he looks healthy, nimble and excited to be on the field — while conditioning has never been an issue for Hanley (no one has a physique like that without a tremendous amount of time in the gym), staying healthy has.

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In the last seven seasons, Hanley has played in 105 or fewer games three times, and has exceeded 145 games just twice. Even his healthier seasons have been marred with nagging injuries that sap his power at the plate.

Most recently, a shoulder injury bothered him for most of 2017, leaving his future in doubt. Without his power, Hanley is a rather pedestrian hitter. Since he provides little defensive value at first, even when playing well, he needs to be hitting well to be worth playing regularly.

When he’s healthy, he can anchor a lineup and carry a team. 2016 showed us what his upside still is with a 128 wRC+, 30 HR and 9 SB. That’s an excellent asset to have, and if he can play that well this season, Mitch Moreland is going to spend most of his year as a late inning defensive replacement.

Next: Did Xander Bogaerts change his swing?

So far, Hanley looks more like the 2016 version than 2017, and for that, we can be thankful. Plus, he’s one of those players you want to be able to root for. After all, moments like this are hard not to smile at: