As far as good signs go, few are better than Hanley Ramirez crushing a home run to dead center, as he did in Thursday's 10-5 loss to the Astros.
Ramirez blasted a Collin McHugh fastball over the center field fence and afterwards talked about how much better he feels now than a year ago, when he basically played one-handed en route to a disappointing season that still included 23 homers.
"Oh man, way, so much looser, I don't have to try too much to throw my hands out," Ramirez told reporters in Florida. "The way everything's going right now is pretty good, the way I feel. We've just got to keep working on it, train, to maintain and stay stronger."
For the Red Sox to match the Yankees' firepower, Ramirez must deliver. Two years ago, he socked 30 homers and carried the Red Sox down the stretch with a monster final six weeks. Last year, his average dropped over 40 points, to .242, and his OPS plummeted from .866 to .750.
"I just have to work on timing right now and (being) effortless, trying not to think too much and hit homers," he said.
Ramirez discussed potential lineup configurations in light of the J.D. Martinez signing. Manager Alex Cora anointed Ramirez his No. 3 hitter earlier in camp before amending that response to suggest Martinez could be in the mix. Either way, Ramirez should hit no lower than fourth. Ramirez isn't sweating his spot in the lineup.
"Not at all, not at all, no," he said. "When you hit fourth, it's more like a power hitter. When you hit third, it's everything -- RBI, average and a little bit of power, too."
