Hanley Ramirez 2011: Knocking on .250's Door

[Swifty]

He just said that because he knows he's got Dodger Stadium coming up soon.

[Chewford]

What were they supposed to take a picture of exactly? Him saying .290 with 7 homeruns?

I do like the attitude though, just not the logic regarding optics.

[MiamiHomer]

A bubble caption would have to be inserted into the photo of what he said.

[Omar]

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

So let's give Hanley the benefit of the doubt and say that by May 30th, he meant after that game is completed. That gives him 17 games to raise his average from .217 to .290. He currently has 129 AB in 34 games. Thanks to my limited skills in mathematics I appreciate greatly that I merely have to divide 129 by two for the 17 games to get a prediction of 64.5 upcoming AB and round up to 65 for a total of 194 after that day's game.

With 194 AB, he'd have to reach 57 hits in order to be at .290 or better. With 28 hits at the moment, he'd have to more than double that to get there. That means that, in 17 games, Hanley will hit .446 to reach the mark he wants.

We're also currently 3 games back of Philly and have a 1.5 game lead in the NL Wild Card race. During the 17 game stretch Hanley is talking about, Philly plays 18 times:

Good Guys
3 @ WAS (18-19)
2 @ NYM (17-20)
2 vs CHI (16-20)
3 vs TB (22-15)
3 @ SFG (21-16)
3 @ LAD (18-20)
1 @ ARI (15-21)

Stupid People
3 @ ATL (21-18)
2 @ STL (22-16)
2 vs COL (19-16)
3 vs TEX (19-18)
4 vs CIN (20-17)
3 @ NYM (17-20)
1 @ WAS (18-19)

With what looks like a slightly easier schedule for the Phillies, you have to give them the edge. But if our #3 hitter decides to hit .446 and everything else holds constant, I predict we tie Philadelphia for the NL East lead going into May 31st's games.

I'm with Hanley - take a picture!

[Bobbob1313]

WAS, NYM, CHI (We should miss Garza), and ARI all have mediocre starting pitching.

Go Hanley!

[AdamRavs]

Hanleywood!

[Bobbob1313]

Should we change the name of this thread to "The Road to .290"?

[MiamiHomer]

Done.

[Bobbob1313]

.

[Miamarlin21]

I think it should be "Quest to .290" but that's just me.

[Chewford]

I think it should be "Expedition to .290", but that's just me being a troll.

[Ramp]

"Journey to .290" with "Don't Stop Believing" playing every time we open this thread

[Chewford]

"Journey to .290" with "Don't Stop Believing" playing every time we open this thread

Make it happen. Any way we want it this thread, that's the way we need it.

[MiamiHomer]

I actually thought of changing the title to just "Take a Picture"

[MiamiHomer]

Struggling shortstop Hanley Ramirez has a new spot in the batting order. He will bat second tonight — if the game is even played. (There’s a steady misty rain falling at Citi Field and the field is covered with a tarp).

Manager Edwin Rodriguez said Ramirez, who usaully hits third, will bat second at least tonight and possibly longer.

“Let’s see how he does tonight,” he said.

Rodriguez said the lineup change was not just because Ramirez has been struggling with a .213 batting average. Rodrigeuz said he didn’t want John Buck to bat eighth, where he would’ve had to be if Omar Infante stayed in the two hole.

Now, Infante will hit eighth.

Rodriguez said he did broach to Ramirez the idea of batting in the lower half of the order. He laughed and said Ramirez didn’t like that idea.

But Rodriguez insisted he kept Ramirez higher in the order because that’s where he’s most beneficial to the team.

“He’s still in the middle of everything, he’s still hitting second. I just don’t feel comfortable hitting John Buck eighth,” Rodriguez said.

“If I keep Hanley third, then Buck is going to be hitting eighth.”

Rodriguez was asked if Ramirez’s new spot was a temporary or permanent move.

“(Hanley) asked me the same question. And I said, ‘I don’t know, let’s see how it goes.’ If we score eight runs a game for the next three weeks, he’s staying there.”

Ramirez, through a team spokesman, said he didn’t want to talk to reporters about the move until after the game “because it’s not a big deal to him and he doesn’t want you guys to make a big deal about it.

“He said, ‘I don’t want them to make a big deal about it because it’s not a big deal to me. I’m happy to do it for the team.”

Hanley Ramirez batting second in the Florida Marlins batting order