When the Boston Red Sox brought Hanley Ramirez to town last winter they knew they weren’t getting a slick fielding defensive minded player. They got him for hit bat. Even if the Red Sox brass could have predicted that the transition to left field would go horrifically wrong, they wouldn’t be too concerned as long as he could hit.
Here’s the problem. Ramirez hasn’t hit, not in a long time. Not since April, when he stormed onto the scene by blasting 10 home runs with a .659 slugging percentage in his first month with the Red Sox. Ramirez’s adventures in the outfield were largely ignored when he was putting up MVP-caliber numbers at the plate, but that torrid pace would not last.