Jake Roth-USA Today Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ fortune seemed to have turned a little during spring training when star shortstop Hanley Ramirez went down with a thumb injury while playing in the WBC. The blue crew was anxious to have Ramirez on the field from day one as a member of their potentially all-star filled line-up, but that plan was derailed.
So here we are a month into the season and Ramirez is ready to get back on the field. The rest of the Dodgers team may be more ready than he is. The blue crew has struggled at the plate so far this year, and Matt Kemp has yet to find a consistent groove and is nowhere near the start he had a year ago.
Carl Crawford has been a great story for L.A. as he is off to a hot start. His team-leading 20 runs are a product of his plus .300 BA and .390 OBP. Crawford will no doubt put up even better numbers with Ramirez batting behind him.
In the field, Justin Sellers has filled in nicely for Ramirez, but his offensive production is not close to what Ramirez’ career numbers are. Ramirez should pay quick dividends in the power department, as well as stealing some bases and adding some runs to the Dodgers dismal 80 total runs, which is currently the lowest in MLB.
More importantly though, is the intangible. Ramirez will be a spark plug for L.A. While the team has been a little flat, they have the ultra-talented pieces in place. They just need a little focus and more importantly, a teammate who will fire them up.
Kenny Bristow is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @kennybristow, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
