Suddenly, Red Sox’ standout corners have gone all soft
COMMENTARY
Is Pablo Sandoval ready yet?
That’s a pointless exercise, seeing how the Red Sox’ $95 million guffaw won’t be seen until spring training after undergoing shoulder surgery in April. But the suggestion that the beleaguered Sandoval would assuredly see consistent playing time at third base these days speaks to just how terrible the man who rightfully stole his job has been.
While we’re at it, you think Mike Napoli is available?
For all the accolades Boston’s rollicking ways have received in delivering the most prolific offensive production in all of Major League Baseball, leaks of inevitability have sprung at the corners of the infield, where both Travis Shaw and Hanley Ramirez have produced among the worst at their positions over the last month.
Shaw, who magnificently botched a sacrifice bunt during the Red Sox’ 10-inning, 7-4 loss against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, has hit only .186 over his last 26 games. The Mayor only has two ding-dongs over that span, with a .553 OPS and a -0.2 WAR. Only Minnesota’s Trevor Plouffe has had a worse month in terms of wins above replacement (-0.6) among major league third basemen.
Nobody has had a worse time than Ramirez, with a -0.7 WAR over the last 30 days, worst among all first basemen. Ramirez has hit only .204 over 25 games, homerless since May 10. There are 30 other players at the position who have hit more home runs this season than the quartet that Ramirez has managed.
Napoli has 14 for the Cleveland Indians.
Ramirez has hit 13 total since he swatted 10 during the first month of his return to Red Sox roots last April.
Despite the lack of production hitting behind him in the Red Sox lineup, designated hitter David Ortiz has still remained the hottest at that position, hitting .384 over 23 games with seven home runs, a 1.256 OPS, and a 1.6 WAR. As a whole, Boston has continued to cross the plate with consistency, scoring 61 runs in June, second in the AL to the Baltimore Orioles, who have scored 81 with the benefit of having played two more games.
Those same Orioles arrive at Fenway this week for a three-game series between the two teams tied atop the AL East standings. The Red Sox are only 6-8 over their last 14 games, a stretch that has included games against division rivals Toronto and Baltimore during which Boston went only 3-4. The Sox are only 14-15 against the East this season, the worst record in the division this side of New York (10-17).
Pitching is the easy culprit, of course, especially considering how unspectacular Eduardo Rodriguez managed to be against the putrid Twins on Saturday (4 2/3 innings, six hits, four walks, four earned runs), and the fact that the team’s fifth spot in the rotation finally resurfaces this weekend against the Seattle Mariners, which very likely means that Clay Buchholz will return to his starting role. But the slumps that Shaw and Ramirez have delved into suggest to have their own negative effects, particularly considering the central role both players represent in the batting order.
“Just not swinging at good pitches,” Shaw told ESPN.com. “Chasing a lot of elevated fastballs and swinging at a lot of sliders out of the zone. Nothing mechanical. Mainly pitch selection.”
This is Shaw’s first, prolonged slump at the major league level since he burst on the scene last summer as a 25-year-old. He hit .270 as a rookie in 2015 with 13 home runs, leading into a scorching spring training during which he won the third base job over Sandoval. But the way opposing pitchers have approached him lately with “some definitive attack plans,” according to manager John Farrell. He was dropped to eighth in the batting order on Saturday, and was 0-for-2 on Sunday after sitting initially in favor of Josh Rutledge.
“Nothing mechanical,” Shaw said. “Swing feels fine. It’s just been one of those ruts.”
But you can still understand the concern, particularly considering the fact that Will Middlebrooks, the team’s last, home-grown third baseman seemingly destined for great things, is currently hitting .244 at Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Pacific Coast League. There’s a certain fluidity to farm system prospects, most notably in that Shaw was ranked 17th on the Red Sox two years ago, and was seen by many as a “4-A” type player, just short of everyday major league value.
Unlike Shaw, however, there has been no movement in the lineup for Ramirez, who went 1-for-3 with a walk while batting fifth in Sunday’s loss.
“The timing’s been a little inconsistent,” Farrell said. “He’s working on timing. He’s working on trying to get his foot down in time to let the power translate. That’s been a lot of work.”
What the Red Sox have gotten over the last month is a top-heavy lineup, where Mookie Betts (hitting .345 over the last month), Dustin Pedroia (.323), and Xander Bogaerts (.391) have carried All-Star-caliber loads into Ortiz. Chris Young is hitting .340 with six home runs since May 14, but is still only hitting .226 against right-handers this season. Jackie Bradley Jr. has evened off since his hitting streak ended, but has a .920 OPS over his last 23 games, and it’s already clear that Christian Vazquez isn’t in the lineup for his bat.
But Shaw and Ramirez threaten to disrupt the cohesiveness that the Red Sox have managed to build to this point of the season. Farrell is seemingly acknowledging Shaw’s troubles by asking him to bunt and shifting his spot in the order.
When will he do anything with Ramirez?
“We’ve got to keep running him out there and let him get through this,” the manager said. “There’s been times inside a given game when he’s had some quality at-bats. We want a right-hander in between the left-handers as we get to that part of the order. That’s where we’re at right now.”
It’s not a good place. Ramirez’s power has all but disappeared, and though he may still get kudos for his handling of a new fielding position this season, he’s starting to once again look like the guy who hit .238 with a .644 OPS from May 1 until the end of the 2015 season. Only about $57 million remaining on that deal.
Yuck.
Rutledge isn’t the answer. Ortiz isn’t going to spend any time, short of the World Series, at first base, Pawtucket infielder Sam Travis is out for the season with a knee injury, and Sandoval is off the grid — somewhere — rehabbing for 2017, as best we can assume. The Red Sox have little choice but to sink or swim with Shaw and Ramirez at the corners.
Besides, how much worse can it get?
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