This season the Red Sox have tried to ride Hanley Ramirez‘ hot bat to produce runs more consistently. Since Ramirez is not a machine and didn’t hit a home run for four games (all losses), the offense, which was able to produce runs with few hits earlier in the season, is sputtering. When Hanley is out of the lineup with his bum shoulder, who should bat cleanup to get the offense going?
The Other Candidates
After last night’s game, Hanley had started 23 of 26 games as the cleanup hitter. So, no one else has much experience this season batting cleanup.