The Hanley Ramirez Diet

Here’s our First Best of the Blog 2011:  A look at the poor play of the Marlins’ troubled infielder.  The post is made all the more interesting by Ramirez’s ousting at short in Miami.  He’ll be the teams’ third baseman this year and that’s something we all saw coming in June.  Enjoy the post.

Miami Marlins infielder Hanley Ramirez isn’t a “Superstar” in the same sense that Albert Pujols is or Alex Rodriguez is or Barry Bonds was. He doesn’t have the same kind of name recognition that those guys do but, until this year, his production was right on par with the best in the business. He was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Florida Marlins in return for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell (there were other pieces involved in the trade on both sides) in what is arguably one of the most fair trades in baseball history. The Sox got an ace, a starting first basemen, and by extension, a World Championship in 2007 and the Marlins got a franchise shortstop and elite player.  In his first full season, Ramirez won the Rookie of Year award with a .292 AVG, 17 homers, 59RBI and a whopping 51 SBs. His WAR that year was 5.2, good for tenth among all players. Han-Ram only got better from there, his next three seasons placed him in the top 5 in WAR, an All-Star game, and in the mix for the MVP each year. He finished second in the MVP voting in 2009 after hitting an impressive .342 with 24 jacks, 106 RBIs, and 27 steals in only 35 attempts.

However, all those years the Marlins had a svelt Hanley on their team. He’s 6’3″ and up until recently played at a lean 180 or so lbs.. Now, he’s weighing about 230 lbs and it may

be affecting his performance. Ramirez is hitting only .204 this season with 4 HRs and 17 RBI. The once speedy shortstop now leads the NL in caught stealing with 6. He also spent a couple of weeks on the DL with a back problem. Some people in the business think he might be bulking himself right out of shortstop and over to third.

I caught the Marlins on TV recently and Ramirez did not look good. Aside from the fact that he was demoted to 6th in the order, he looked kind of fat. Not a muscular, pro-athelete 230 lbs but a normal guy 230 lbs. It was not becoming.

Perhaps we’re entering a new era of Hanley Ramirez. Perhaps his days of 51 stolen bases in consecutive years, a .300 as his lowest average and elite player status is over. Maybe his new body type is less conducive to an All-Star caliber shotstop and more conducive to a mediocre third basemen. I certainly hope not. He’s put on 50 lbs., that’s an awful lot to simply be attributed to “letting yourself go.” Maybe, as he is 27, this is physical prime and his skills are just better suited for a younger, smaller man. If that’s the case, I think it would be relatively unprecedented in Major League history. I certainly can’t think of someone as good and a dominant as Hanley declining so far, he’s 102 points below his career AVG this season, so fast.

I’m in Florida this weekend so this post is a little rushed. Fear not though, because I have a good idea for a post when I get home and the greatest Stat of the Day ever. Seriously.

UPDATE:  Sean read this post and thought of a current Yankees Left Fielder named Andruw Jones.  Andruw was, at the height of his career, the best center fielder that anyone had ever seen play.  He chased down everything in center and could hit well enough to be in the MVP discussion for many years.  Now?  Some 50 pounds later he’s a platooned Left Fielder who gets spot starts against Left handed pitchers.  Jones stole 20 bags 4 times in his career and now, seems destined for life as a homerun hitter.  Jones is still a serviceable Major Leaguer, (just as Hanley will continue to be) but his production, effectiveness, speed, and Superstar status are greatly affected by weight gain and the coinciding change in style of play.

-Max Frankel