Editorials

Just What the Doctor Ordered: A Strong Dose of Hanley Ramirez

While much has been made of the injuries to Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, Zack Greinke and Carl Crawford, there was one guy whose absence seemed to be long overlooked.

Well, for the over lookers, Hanley Ramirez wanted to remind you of what you were missing.



After missing the first few weeks of the season with an injury sustained in the World Baseball Classic, Ramirez returned to Los Angeles on a tear, going 5/11 with three extra base hits and a steal.

Unfortunately, that tear was cut short after just four games.

With his second trip to the disabled list of the season, Ramirez was out for yet another month.

But, like the first time, when Ramirez returned he has shown that he hasn’t missed a beat.

In 15 games since returning from his hamstring injury (which sidelined him for three more games a couple weeks ago), Ramirez is hitting .317 with an OPS of .989.

During that stretch, he has scored eight times, hit three home runs (including this monster) and knocked in nine runs — just the type of production the Dodgers have been sorely lacking from the middle of their lineup.

Aside from Adrian Gonzalez, the middle of the Dodger order hasn’t been much more productive than the top or bottom of the lineup — which is a major problem for a team with the type of star power the Dodgers have.

With Matt Kemp set to return to the lineup sometime this week, the emergence of Ramirez and Yasiel Puig might be the perfect storm for easing Kemp back into things.

While he’s used to being “the guy” in town, he’ll have three other guys to take the pressure off of him while he gets back into a groove — a groove Dodger fans are hoping and praying eventually comes.

Regardless of how Kemp returns, though, the focus now is on Ramirez, Gonzalez and Puig.

And in all honesty, that seems to be enough right now.

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button