Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox: Hanley Ramirez Ready to Play Ortiz Role in 2017

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:25 p.m. ET

Fansided, Tim Haberin/FanSided via Call to the Pen

No one can reasonably expect to replicate what David Ortiz gave the Boston Red Sox both on and off the field, but Hanley Ramirez wants to try.

How do you replace a player like David Ortiz? That’s a question the Boston Red Sox were quietly asking themselves all last season. The reality of Big Papi’s looming exit really started to hit home once the final out was recorded in the team’s crushing ALDS loss at the hands of the Cleveland Indians.

While the offseason featured a couple false alarms regarding Ortiz weighing a possible return, he has in fact re-affirmed his retirement. With spring training now underway, the Sox are going to need to truly get used to life without their leader both on the field and in the clubhouse.

Hanley Ramirez is slated to take over Ortiz’s vacated designated hitter role, but the veteran slugger plans to fill his departed friend’s shoes in more ways than one. The 33-year-old Ramirez aims to be more of a leader on a club that has grown younger over the past few years amid the emergence of rising stars like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr.

Decked out in a #34 Ortiz t-shirt, Ramirez talked about his mentor’s influence after arriving at Red Sox camp this week, per ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber:

“The difference between me and David is David, he can talk. I don’t like to talk a lot. I’m more quiet. David always finds a way to get to know you, to talk to you. That’s a good thing. I learned that from him, and that’s one of the things I’m going to try to do this year, too.

“He’s teaching me, showing me the way to be a leader and a champion, every day. His legacy, his way to play the game, the way to teach people around him, how he tries to make everybody happy around him, David was unbelievable.”

It will be difficult for Ramirez to match Ortiz’s numbers at the plate from last season, but that would be an unfair expectation to put on any player. Big Papi, after all, set the new standard for farewell seasons, slashing a mighty .315/.401/.620 with 38 home runs, 127 RBI and an MLB-leading 48 doubles. All at 40 years of age.

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However, Ramirez was no slouch in 2016 either. After an underwhelming first campaign in Boston in which he played only 105 games and posted a .717 OPS, he rebounded nicely last year. Ramirez generated a .286/.361/.505 slash line with 30 homers and 111 RBI. He reached the 30-HR plateau for the first time since 2008 and the 100-RBI mark for the first time since 2009.

Assuming a full-time DH role could bode well for Ramirez in terms of maintaining that kind of production. Although he gave left field and first base a try over the last two years, his play at both positions was a liability, to put it gently. Fortunately, the Red Sox now have top prospect Andrew Benintendi and newly-signed Mitch Moreland to hold down those spots, respectively. Focusing purely on his hitting might have a positive effect on Ramirez’s performance while also keeping him refreshed and healthy throughout the 162-game grind.

Any way you look at it, the circumstances seem right for Ramirez to enjoy another productive season with the bat. That would be very welcome in Boston; even with the expected continued success of MVP candidate Mookie Betts, Ramirez is still an important part of that lineup, and every contribution will matter as the team tries to make up as much of Ortiz’s production as possible.

Ramirez appears determined to make an impact on more than just the box score, though. He wants the Red Sox youngsters to look up to him the same way he used to look up to Ortiz. You need those kinds of generous veterans on a squad with World Series aspirations. Boston could always count on Big Papi to fill that role, and it looks like Hanley is ready to step up in his wake.