Hanley Ramirez 2011: Knocking on .250's Door

[MiamiHomer]

HanleyRamirez Hanley Ramirez
Apartamento 70 RT @BoobiesNStanton: Hanley Ramirez en apartamento 208. #fixed RT @HanleyRamirez: Hanley Ramirez en la casa

[Bobbob1313]

I do not get why that is funny.

[MiamiHomer]

Do you not get what they did or do you just not find it funny?

[Miamarlin21]

I don't get it either. There are too many RT for me to get it lol

[MiamiHomer]

Hanley tweets: He is in the house
Random guy tweets response: Hanley Ramirez is in apartment .208 (his BA)
Hanley responds with: Apartment 70 (his salary)

[Miamarlin21]

Ohhh ok. The 70 threw me off.

Touché Hanley, touché.

[Beef]

I made shrugs

[MiamiHomer]

I made shrugs

Shocking.

[Miamarlin21]

Then he the dude said :[QUOTE]
I'm not sure how there are still people in South Florida who DON'T love Hanley. So full of awesome./QUOTE]

What a pussy. Don't try and ass kiss now bruh

[MiamiHomer]

The guy is a Marlins fan that has a blog for the Marlins. It'd be the same if any of us made the comment.

[Miamarlin21]

I'd wear it and at least properly tag him in the status to show my appreciation.

[MiamiHomer]

He replied to Hanley telling him "Well played"

[Party]

Hanley Ramirez
Travel day...finally feeling better at the plate

-Facebook

[Chewford]

Hopefully he wasn't referring to the dessert plate on his in-flight meal tray.

[MiamiHomer]

Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, off to the worst start of his career, made a bold prediction before Wednesday's game at Sun Life Stadium.

"By May 30, I will have seven homers. And I'll be batting .290,' he told a reporter. "You better take a picture. Write it down.'

Then he went out and hit his second home run and finished the night with his sixth multi-hit game of the season. That performance in a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia raised his batting average to .217.

That isn't to say Ramirez is swinging the way he did two years ago when he hit .342 and won the batting title. But after hitting in eight of his last nine games, he has reason to be confident, especially since the Marlins are headed to two ballparks here he has hit well.

He is a career .359 hitter at Nationals Park, where the Marlins open a three-game series Friday against Washington. And he's a .403 hitter at Citi Field, where the Marlins open a two-game series Monday against the Mets.

The thinking around the Marlins clubhouse: If Ramirez is going to snap out of his funk, this five-game trip offers his most promising chance of the season.

"I've never seen anything like this from a great hitter,' said Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, a Marlins special assistant who has scrutinized Ramirez's game since he was NL Rookie of the Year in 2006.

"You're talking about a young player who's very talented and just by being out there every day you (should be able to) walk into mistakes and capitalize off them. I can't really explain other than the fact that it might be in your head now and you're probably pressing little bit.'

No one on the Marlins is panicking - at least not publicly - over Ramirez's slow start. After all, the team is 21-15, the second-best start in franchise history through 36 games (the 2008 team went 22-14 before finishing 84-77).

"His approach has been better. He's swinging at more strikes. He's trying to go back to the way he was swinging in 2009,' hitting coach John Mallee said.

"It's frustrating because he's not batting like he's capable, but if you look around the league, a lot of the stars are struggling.'

St. Louis' Albert Pujols, a career .330 hitter, was batting .231 as recently as May 3 but has improved to .270. Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki has cooled off to .250 after a scorching April. Mets third baseman David Wright is hitting .234. But Ramirez's slump stands out because he hit so well over his first 34 games in every other year - from .336 in 2006 to .354 in '09 to .292 last year.

Among everyday shortstops this year, only San Francisco's Miguel Tejada (.213) and Pittsburgh's Ronny Cedeno (.212) are hitting worse than Ramirez. And among hitters with at least 125 plate appearances in the No. 3 slot, Ramirez is tied with Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez for last in the NL at .211.

"It's not easy after you lost your swing to get it back. It's kind of hard,' said Ramirez, who was hitting a season-high .256 on April 14 and as low as .191 on May 2.

"I know how it happened, but I can't tell you how it happened. It's a secret, but I know how it happened.'

Dawson would like to see Ramirez take a more humble approach to his struggles.

"Walking to the plate, there's too much swagger,' Dawson said.

Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez thinks Ramirez might have dwelled too much on trying to carry the team this season because of injuries to outfielders Mike Stanton, Chris Coghlan and Logan Morrison.

Morrison, who has been out since April 20, will return from the disabled list Friday. It will mark just the eighth time this year that the Marlins have their main position players together in the lineup.

And Rodriguez expects Ramirez to blossom.

"I won't put numbers on him but I can tell you he is going to come out of it,' Rodriguez said. "If there's one guy in the league who is able to bounce back, it's this guy.'

Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez confident he can bust out of his season-long slump