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Though the Milwaukee Brewers are floundering in a major way in May, having lost 10 of 12 and falling dangerously towards Chicago Cubs-like levels in the NL Central basement, you probably couldn’t put any of the blame on Aramis Ramirez.
Yes, the third baseman is perhaps a little bit overshadowed by the rousing successes of players like Jean Segura, Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez, but considering that Ramirez essentially missed an entire month of play due to an ailing knee, that he’s more or less picked up right where he left off is really no less impressive.
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Where exactly that was, of course, was in the midst of a four game hitting streak that saw the 34-year-old get off to a 1.082 OPS start.
Sure, both Ramirez and the Brewers are a long way from that now, and the additional sample size he’s had in May has cooled the numbers off a tad. Still, with a .333/.400/.519 triple slash through 27 at-bats in the month, it’s difficult to complain even while the team continues to find ways to lose.
The unfortunate thing for the veteran is that the performance hasn’t exactly translated to counting numbers for both himself and the team, with only four RBIs and one lone run being generated from the nine hits he’s had from the Brewers’ cleanup spot in May.
Some will chalk that up to luck (.952 OPS with runners on), and others will chalk it up to clutch production (.631 OPS with RISP), but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Of course, his 1-for-5 performance in Milwaukee’s disheartening 4-3 extra innings loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates isn’t going to help things, though it’s worth pointing out that once again, his lone hit came with a man (Braun) on base in extras. You’d have to think that eventually, some of those runners at first are going to turn into runs, especially since Ramirez is still slugging .550 for the season.
Whether the Brewers — who really need all the help they can get from their middle-of-the-pack offense these days, thanks to a lack of pitching — will be able to stay above water long enough for that to happen … well, that’s a whole other story.
