BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez’s second stint with the Red Sox has been full of tough love.
Ramirez leads the Red Sox in home runs (19), RBIs (45) and slugging percentage (.495), yet the 31-year-old infielder-turned-outfielder has been criticized as much as anyone on the last-place club. The Red Sox have begun to play better of late, however, in large because Ramirez has been tearing the cover off the baseball. And it’s likely David Ortiz has a little something to do with his good friend’s resurgence.
“Hanley’s like a little brother to me, you know what I’m saying,” Ortiz said after Saturday’s 5-3 win over the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. “We talk about the game a lot and we try to keep up with it. I know everything started a little slow at the beginning of the season, but it’s a long season and it’s a season where you’ve got to be able to figure things out.”
Ramirez launched a two-run homer into the Red Sox’s bullpen Saturday to give Boston a 3-1 lead. He entered Sunday with a home run in four of his last eight games and in six of his last 14. Each of his last four homers has given the Red Sox a lead, and Boston has won five of the last six games in which he’s homered.
“The biggest thing (Saturday) is it’s the first time in a while he’s driven the ball the other way,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said Saturday of Ramirez’s opposite-field blast. “Saw a little bit more of a flatter swing on a ball up in the strike zone that he drives out of the ballpark.
“But as far as the first half goes, he gets off to a quick start, goes through a little bit of a slide, but he’s been an offensive contributor. But I think the biggest thing (Saturday) are the two balls he hits the other way with authority.”
Ramirez was placed under a microscope in May. He hit .235 (23-for-98) with two homers, five RBIs and a .622 OPS for the month after a red-hot April. The lack of production, of course, coincided with underwhelming defense in left field and team-wide struggles, creating a perfect storm of criticism.
The Red Sox’s offense has improved since the beginning of June, though. And Ramirez has been right in the thick of things. Ortiz, who built a relationship with Ramirez in the younger slugger’s first go-round with the organization, appears to have been somewhat of a guiding force amid the ups and downs.
“I think for the most part Hanley looks up to David,” Farrell said. “Whether it was prior to going to the Marlins in a trade, he’s always looked up to David and having him I think be a little bit of a lead for him in the environment in Boston, how to handle it.
“He’s come under some scrutiny, but I think he’s handled it in a way that he’s stood up to it. He understands that there’s a high expectation here, but I think more than anything, he looks to David with handling some of the things that come at him off the field.”
Ortiz has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in his 13 years in Boston. Who better than him to take Ramirez under his wing in the face of tremendous heat?
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
