No matter what position he plays, offense is still an issue with Hanley Ramirez.
Now that the Red Sox have stated their intention to try Ramirez at first base, with an eye toward having him play there regularly in 2016, perhaps some attention could get paid to his offense -- or lack thereof.
While Ramirez's poor defensive play in the outfield has commanded the most attention this season, the obscures the fact that Ramirez has contributed little at the plate, especially over the the past four months.
Ramirez began well enough in April, smacking 10 homers and leading the Red Sox in most offensive categories. But Ramirez hasn't been the same since colliding with the wall in Fenway's left field corner in early May.
In those 79 games -- almost half a season's worth of playing time --Ramirez has posted a slash line of .243/.279/.377. In those 79 games, he's hit only nine homers and driven in 31 runs while walking just 12 times.
In the second half, the production has been even worse, with aline of .190/.218/.248.
Think about that last number: a slugging percentage of .248.
Who knows the reason for the dropoff? Did Ramirez sustain lasting damage to that shoulder in the collision? Is he disinterested because the team has fallen so far out of contention?
It would seem almost inconceivable that a player of Ramirez's strength and skills could go nearly 120 at-bats since his last homer, but that's the case. He doesn't have one in the second half. His last homer, in fact, came July 11, about six weeks ago.
