Red Sox: Hanley Ramirez Heading to DL Could Help Long Term
By Leo Koukakis
Hanley Ramirez has been arguably the Red Sox best player through the first 26 games of the season, but strained his shoulder after running into the wall last night. John Farrell came out and said after the game that this isn’t necessarily a “clear cut DL situation”, but sending Hanley to the DL could actually help the Red Sox.
First and foremost, it is too early in the season to be risking a key player’s long term health by making him play through an injury in May. Hanley needs to take the next couple weeks off to make sure that this injury heels properly, especially since he had surgery on the same shoulder earlier in his career.
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This is a similar situation to the one that faced the Cavs when Lebron wasn’t feeling 100%. They allowed him to take a couple weeks off in the middle of the season, and while the team struggled in his absence, they are reaping the benefits of having their star completely healthy right now. Boston needs to take the same approach with Hanley. They have now dropped 4 straight, but the offense has been the least of the problems. Even with Hanley sidelined, the Sox have plenty of guys that can step in and hold the offensive fort down.
One of those guys is Allen Craig. He hasn’t exactly gotten a fair shake since coming to Boston, but was once known as the clutchest right handed hitter in baseball. It seems like the Sox want to use him as trade bait, but he is only hitting .146 with a homer and 2 RBI’s this season. Hanley heading to the DL could be the perfect chance for Craig to finally get into a rhythm, showcase his talents, and book his ticket out of Boston.
The ideal situation would be for the Sox to find some pitching help in a trade that would feature Craig. Craig excels when facing left handed pitching, so Oakland seems to be the perfect trade partner. Oakland has a surplus of solid young pitchers, and they are only hitting .212 against left handed pitching this season.
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Historically speaking, teams usually do not win if they don’t have a formidable pitching staff, and the Red Sox entire pitching staff has been putrid through the first 26 games. Allen Craig alone isn’t enough to bring in an ace, but if he gets hot in the next two weeks, he could become a key piece in a package that lands some pitching help.
If the Red Sox decide against playing Allen Craig, this would be the perfect time to call up Rusney Castillo. The most likely scenario would be that they slot Rusney in Right Field while sticking Brock Holt in Left Field. Castillo is only batting .217 in Pawtucket this season, but did mange to go 12-36 in 10 games with the Red Sox at the end of last season.
Nobody wants to see a key player like Hanley go down with an injury, but the Sox have a chance to make the team better right now. They need to make sure that Hanley is completely healthy for the big games later this season, and they need to see what they have with a couple other guys going forward. This season hasn’t gotten off to the start that we were hoping for, but the injury to Hanley has the potential to be the turning point.