Alex Cora needs to commit to one position for Hanley Ramirez.
There is no way around it. Hanley Ramirez was a disappointment in 2017.
His average dropped 40+ points, his OPS dropped 100+ points, and he was down 50 RBI’s. Ramirez is in Boston to be the basher in the middle of the lineup, but at the end of the season last year he was hitting at the bottom of the order sometimes.
While Hanley played 108 games at DH, he still played 18 games at first. If he is going to play the field next season, that’s no problem. But the Red Sox need to commit to playing him at one position next season, barring an injury.
He may not be a gold glover at first, but he is certainly competent enough to play it every day. If the Red Sox strikeout in free agency, why not bring in somebody else to DH and allow Hanley to play first?
He plays so much better when he is fully engaged in the game, and what better way to get him engaged than by playing first base?
Whether he plays first base or DH’s does not matter. The Red Sox need him locked into one position, that way he can give that his full focus. Ramirez is too good of a player to be hitting in the .240’s for back-to-back seasons.
If he can have a little bit of stability in his role with the team next season, he could return to his 2016 form, which gave all Red Sox fans all sorts of excitement.
Be on the lookout for Hanley Ramirez to play one position all year-long.