Every spring training, there is chatter about position changes. This year the conversation includes Hanley Ramirez, who will be playing left field for the Boston Red Sox. Ramirez has never played professionally in the outfield, so learning to play left field in the big leagues is a tall order. Nevertheless, here are five tips for Hanley so he can avoid either hurting himself out there or hurting his team's chances to win.
1. Don't be a hero
When an infielder gets his first taste of the outfield, he likes to dive or make Web Gems out of web coal, for no reason in particular. It must be all of that cushy grass that he isn't used to feeling under his cleats. Save it. In left field, especially with The Green Monster on his back, Ramirez must worry more about the angles than the highlight reel. He can cut down on extra-base hits with precise routes, so it is more important to prevent the extra base being taken, especially in critical moments.
2. Working the angles
Angles are sharp, and so is the run-scoring pain when you misread them. Left field was the toughest outfield position to me. Why? Because you have less time to react, and the angles were devastating compared to center field. One false move in left and the ball is by you. Gone. A left fielder must learn the hooks and the slices, and the ball will pretty much always do one or the other. Ramirez needs to work hard on reads, and that only comes with repetition.
3. The wall hurts
The warning track is generally useless; Ramirez should not rely on it to act like the GPS on his phone. That will only get him a wired-shut jaw. Fenway Park has ladders and strange ricochets, so he has to be smart with wall play. Once he learns how to read the caroms, he'll have a chance to succeed. And Fenway is the closest thing to living inside of a pinball machine as possible in the major leagues.
4. No cutoff necessary
If Ramirez needs a cutoff man at Fenway, he'll need to start thinking about DH-ing. Last season I spoke with Chris Coghlan of the Cubs, and he made a great point. He told his infielders to be aggressive in coming out to the outfield on plays off the wall. He did not need a cutoff man for throws from left field, so on certain balls, they could just back him up while he tries to be more aggressive at the wall. Throws from left field are short, the shortest in the outfield (especially at Fenway). Ramirez must use that fact to take away extra-base hits without the need for a cutoff man.
5. Know the baserunners
Sure doubles that a left fielder tries to turn into singles end up turning into triples. If a ball is hit down the left-field line and it is a sure double, Ramirez should not try to cut it off at a sharp angle. He should have a clock in his head, know how much time he has for it to be a double, and take a risk-smart angle to the ball (this is with no one on base). If he overplays it by going gangbusters directly at the ball down the line, and if he misses (and he more than likely will), that ball with enter pinball world in those Boston corners. Hopefully, either Xander Bogaerts or whoever wins the center-field job will have his back.
More quick tips
• Back up! Back up everyone -- the shortstop, the third baseman, the center fielder, the ball girl. The walls are going to cause havoc, so Ramirez must anticipate a bad bounce and a strange change of direction after the ball hits the wall for his fellow outfielders ... and have their backs, too.
• No shades on his hat: Ramirez should not put shades over that Boston "B" on his hat and then lose a ball in the sun. If the letter on his hat needs shades, he should offer it sunscreen instead and put those shades where they belong: on his eyes.
• Work hard in pre-game: The best way to learn the outfield job and how a stadium plays is for Ramirez to take at least one full round of batting practice where he is going after fly balls like it is game time. That way he'll get a sense of the trajectories, the hops, the walls, the grass. It is an environmental assessment and quickly, it will become of part of his athletic memory. Use it.
• Know the hitters: He needs to study the charts, know tendencies, adjust for the count and the situation and scout. It will help make up for the fact he will not have a clue what he is doing in the beginning.