Red Sox vs. Indians Roster Breakdown: OF and DH

Designated Hitter

With David Ortiz’s official retirement from baseball, the Red Sox have a problem that they haven’t had since 2002: who is going to take the DH reps?

As mentioned in the infield comparison, for the purpose of this experiment, we’re going to assume that Mitch Moreland takes most of the first base at-bats while Hanley Ramirez is mainly slotted as the DH.

After an entirely forgettable 2015 that left Red Sox Nation embittered by his four-year, $88 million free agent deal, Ramirez took big strides in 2016 in becoming more like the fearsome hitter that he was in the past. Virtually every statistic increased from 2015 to 2016, including his walk rate (4.9% to 9.7%), ISO (.177 to .219), and BABIP (.257 to .315). To sum it up crudely, Hanley became a more patient hitter, allowing him better hitter’s counts, which in turn led to harder contact – his hard-hit percentage climbed from 31.1% to 37.2% in that span.

Another huge and often overlooked development was simply getting him out of left field. Needless to say, that experiment turned out to be an utter disaster. In left, Ramirez posted a -19 defensive runs saved mark compared to his -5 at first base last season. And mostly regulating him to designated hitter means he’ll have less of a negative defensive impact. Subtracting a negative is the same effect as adding a positive, so this positional move actually helps his defensive value.

All in all, Hanley jumped from a -1.8 WAR to a +2.8 WAR, and that level of value is reasonable to expect from him in 2017. It seems that the transition to Boston has been made, with all the growing pains along with it. Going into his age 33 season, there’s little reason to doubt that the slugger can post a similar .286/.361/.505 line in Ortiz’s old role.

Back in Cleveland, the DH spot looks to be occupied by Carlos Santana. This is, of course, is under the assumption that newcomer Edwin Encarnacion takes most of the first base reps. Perhaps the most unorthodox leadoff man in the game, the power-hitting DH has been remarkably consistent as an on-base threat. Since 2011, his OBP has never dipped under .350, fueled by his 90+ walks in each season in that span.

Back in his younger days, the 30-year old was a catcher, and understandably that was when he held the most value. Now regulated to DH and first base, Santana relies more and more on his bat to carry his value. That’s not all that detrimental, however, given that his bat is statistically 20% better than league average.

Ultimately, what Santana and Ramirez can bring to the DH position is similar: 30-homer power, high on-base ability, versatility that can extend to first base. Both are solid options for their respective clubs, so this race is declared a tie.

Advantage: Tie