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Los Angeles Dodgers star shortstop Hanley Ramirez will miss Tuesday night’s road game against the Kansas City Royals with an irritated AC joint in his shoulder.   

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported the news of Ramirez’s ailment:

As the Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Shaikin noted back on June 12, this shoulder seems to be a recurring problem for the three-time All-Star:

Ramirez has been getting dinged up lately. This nagging injury adds to the right ring finger contusion he suffered last week. Some speculation swirled that the finger contributed to Ramirez’s throwing error that broke up Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw’s perfect game against the Colorado Rockies.

Such an excuse wasn’t to be found from Ramirez after the game, though.

“Tough play, you know?” said Ramirez, per the Los Angeles Times‘ Everett Cook. “You just have to catch the ball and throw it. In that situation you would rather have the error than just let it go.”

Kershaw will be getting his first start since throwing that no-hitter on Tuesday versus Kansas City. With the way Ramirez is now making headlines for yet another health setback, that Ramirez error is likely to be discussed a lot leading up to the game.

This also halts, at least for the time being, some recent momentum Ramirez generated in the batter’s box, per the Dodgers’ official Twitter account:

Part owner Magic Johnson has faith in his club when they’re firing on all cylinders—and implicates Ramirez being at his best:

Sometimes MLB players tend to sit out with trivial injuries, or simply to get a day off. Having discomfort in a shoulder is rather excusable for Ramirez to ride the pine for the evening, though. He is too important to the Dodgers’ cause moving forward that it’s worth letting him rest the joint and hope that the irritation dies down soon.

Trailing the San Francisco Giants by just four games in the National League West, this figures to be a year-long race for the divisional crown. Although Ramirez is batting just .269, which pales in comparison to his full-season peak of .342 in 2009, he is hot recently at the dish. His fielding warrants criticism, yet Ramirez is still a key cog in LA’s bid to contend for the World Series.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers received a scare on Saturday evening when star shortstop Hanley Ramirez left their game against the Colorado Rockies with an apparent thumb injury, according to a tweet from Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller:

In the bottom of the third inning, Ramirez grounded out while bringing in the Dodgers’ first run of the game, but came back to the dugout grimacing and shaking his right hand.

Ramirez was looked at by the team’s trainer, but it was determined to err on the side of caution and hold him out of the remainder of the game.

X-rays on his thumb were negative and he was given a day-to-day status. The Dodgers confirmed this via their official Twitter account:

On the season, Ramirez holds a .267 batting average, recording 24 hits on 90 at-bats. He’s homered three times, accumulated nine RBIs and an impressive 11 doubles.

Heading into their Saturday contest against the Rockies, the Dodgers stood at 13-11 on the season and are second in the NL West Division. They’ll want Ramirez back as quickly as possible; however, with his injury history, they surely won’t want to rush the process.

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When the dust settles on Derek Jeter‘s farewell season, the Yankees will be forced to face a question that’s been dormant for nearly two decades in New York: Who is going to play shortstop next?

For most teams, this is a yearly or frequent exercise. Unless a stud emerges from the farm system, finding a star-caliber shortstop is difficult. 

Luckily for the Yankees, one could be available on the open market next winter. 

No, we’re not talking about Jed Lowrie, Asdrubal Cabrera or J.J. Hardy. While all are good players, none profiles as the perfect heir to Derek Jeter’s shortstop throne in New York. Instead, that distinction belongs to current Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez. 

In order to peel back the thinking within the Yankees’ brain trust, let’s take a look at why they would be wise to send a batch of scouts to follow Ramirez’s progress, health and ability throughout the 2014 season.

First, as always when it comes to free-agent signings, is production.

When healthy, Ramirez isn’t just a good replacement for Jeter; he’s one of the best offensive shortstops in baseball history. 

Since debuting as a 22-year-old star in Florida, Ramirez has raked. The following chart shows his production compared to every top shortstop in baseball history during their respective age-22-29 seasons. 

As you can see, Ramirez’s bat is among the best ever at the position. If not for health concerns, baseball fans would be plotting an eventual trip to Cooperstown for the 30-year-old slugger. Over the last three seasons (2011-13), Ramirez has played in over 100 games just once.

After averaging 152 games per season during his first five years in Florida, it’s fair to wonder if health will continue to be an issue moving forward. 

However, production shouldn’t be a concern. 

Last year, Ramirez was arguably the best hitter in the National League, posting a 190 OPS+ for the Dodgers during their run to the NL West title. In fact, Los Angeles’ ascension in the standings coincided with Ramirez’s return from injury in June.

While Yasiel Puig’s emergence received most of the credit, the Dodgers welcomed game-changing production from Ramirez during their 53-13 run from late June through early September. During that span (June 22-Sept. 3), Ramirez posted a .327/.376/.615 slash line. If that slugging percentage isn’t eye-opening, consider this: Miguel Cabrera’s .620 mark over the last two years is almost identical. 

Clearly, Ramirez can adequately replace Jeter in New York’s lineup. Furthermore, if his large frame (6’2″, 225 lbs) dictates a future move to third base—a position he played in 2012—it will buy the Yankees time to replace Jeter with a younger option and serve as a long-term plan for Alex Rodriguez‘s eventual exit from the Bronx.

From a lineup perspective, Ramirez’s power bat would provide a different dynamic to New York’s batting order. With Alfonso Soriano in the last year of his long-term contract, Ramirez could slide into the middle of New York’s lineup along with Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann, giving manager Joe Girardi a right-handed complement to the switch-hitting first baseman and left-handed catcher. 

Of course, there’s more to this equation than just production. If Ramirez is the guy to replace Jeter, a different set of criteria will apply.

The first—willingness to understand Jeter’s legacy and what he meant to baseball—can be checked off. 

Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports spoke to Ramirez about replacing Jeter in 2015, assuming the Dodgers star doesn’t sign a long-term extension in Los Angeles before next winter. While dodging a question that could be a distraction in the Dodgers’ clubhouse, Ramirez went out of his way to praise Jeter’s career and what he meant to him:

“Everybody knows I grew up looking at Jeter,” said Ramirez. “It’s why I wore No. 2 in Miami. He was my idol, my hero. We’re going to miss him on the field. He’s great on the field, off the field. Everybody’s going to miss him.”

When Jeter’s retirement announcement sent shock waves through baseball, Ramirez echoed those sentiments to his fans. 

Outside of production and willingness to ascend to Jeter’s throne, the next Yankee shortstop will need to procure some of the leadership and team-first attributes that New York fans have become accustomed to since 1996. Earlier in Ramirez’s career, those traits were tough to find. Since arriving to Los Angeles, that seems to have changed.

When asked about Ramirez’s number tribute to Jeter, his current manager—and former Yankees captain and coach—Don Mattingly had this to say about Ramirez’s on-field character, per Morosi‘s column:

“We’ve seen nothing but a Derek Jeter-style player—a little different style, obviously, because he’s more flamboyant and coming from a different place. But we see a lot of the leadership qualities in Hanley. And it shows, now that you tell me, that he wants to be that kind of guy,” Mattingly said.

Over the next few years, a leadership void could be apparent in New York’s clubhouse. After recent retirements of Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, Jeter is the last leader from the successful teams of the ’90’s. When he’s gone, someone will have to step up.

While it’s not surprising to hear Ramirez’s manager praise one of his best players, the endorsement of a teammate carries significant weight. When asked about Ramirez’s presence on the field, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis had glowing reviews of his teammate, per Morosi‘s column:

“Hanley’s such a joy to play with. He’s such a leader out there in the middle of the field, somebody I trust and count on to keep me involved in the game. He’s always somebody who comes to the mound [during conferences] and brings intensity and a strong desire to win that’s infectious to the rest of us.”

At some point, the Yankees are going to attempt to replace Jeter with a long-term option. In reality, no one can duplicate what Jeter is and has been for the past two decades. The next Yankees shortstop will be compared to a once-in-a-lifetime player.  

Ramirez’s apparent red flags—injury history, age, price tag in free agency—didn’t scare the team away from handing Jacoby Ellsbury a seven-year, $153 million contract this winter.

Next February, as the Yankees report to their first spring training without Jeter in over 20 years, signing Ramirez to fill the void is the logical move for a franchise in transition. 

Agree? Disagree? Who should be the next Yankees shortstop?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball. 

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

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Now that they’ve locked up ace Clayton Kershaw to a long-term deal, the Los Angeles Dodgers can focus their attention on keeping another star player in town for the next several years. 

According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, negotiations for shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who can become a free agent after the 2014 season, are in the early stages but are ongoing.

As was the case with Kershaw, who signed a seven-year, $215 million contract extension a year before he was eligible to become a free agent, the Dodgers aren’t likely to get the discount they might have gotten had either player been further away from free agency.

If he does happen to reach free agency, Ramirez will be entering his age-31 season and should easily surpass the four-year, $53 million deal that Jhonny Peralta signed with the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason.

Like Ramirez, Peralta is an above-average hitting shortstop who might have to move to third base within the next few years because of his defensive limitations. But the comparisons end there. 

Considering that Peralta is entering his age-32 season, was suspended for 50 games late in the 2013 season due to his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal and has never put up elite numbers, as Ramirez did early in his career (.906 OPS, 25 HR, 40 2B, 39 SB per season from 2006-2010) and once again during a 2013 season in which he only played 86 games due to injury (1.040 OPS, 20 HR, 25 2B, 10 SB), it’s fairly clear that Ramirez’s value is much, much greater. 

Ramirez’s agent, Adam Katz, could argue that his client deserves to be among the highest-paid shortstops in the game. OK, so he’s already there if you only factor in the annual salary. His $16 million salary for 2014 puts him in a three-way tie with Jose Reyes and Troy Tulowitzki (pictured).

But in terms of the total value of the deal, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Katz uses, or is using, the last six years of Tulowitzki‘s current deal as a comparison and possibly a baseline for negotiations.

For Tulowitzki‘s age-30-to-35 seasons, which run from 2015 until the final year of his deal in 2020, he’s due to make a total of $118 million, including a $4 million buyout on a $15 million club option for 2021.  

If the Dodgers gave Ramirez that exact contract (six years, $118 million with a $15 million club option for a seventh year) for the same time period, it’s doubtful that anyone would blink an eye. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if Ramirez and his camp asked for more. How about a six-year, $125 million deal with a $16 million club option for 2021? 

Here’s the argument for why it could be a mistake for the Dodgers to give him that kind of money over that length of time. 

It’s hard to ignore how well Ramirez played last season once he was healthy. But we also can’t forget about his decline over the previous two seasons (.742 OPS, 17 HR, 20 SB per season from 2011-2012) and how far his value had fallen by the time the Dodgers acquired him from the Marlins in July 2012 for pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough.

After struggling for most of 2011, Ramirez’s season was cut short by a shoulder injury that required surgery. He played 157 games in 2012, although his production fell short of where it had been prior to the 2011 season. He also played 90 games at third base, which he had only ever played a handful of times early in his minor league career. The shoulder surgery and the position change both could’ve played major factors. 

If his strong comeback season in 2013 didn’t take so long to get going—he was limited to only four games over the first two months of the season due to thumb and hamstring injuries—he’d have a much stronger argument for those two factors contributing to his numbers falling off.

Instead, it’s hard to be completely convinced that Ramirez can still be the same player over a full season. It’s also fair to question his ability to stay healthy. Paying him to be the player he was from 2006-2010 in hopes that he’d repeat the performance in his early-to-mid-30’s might not be the best idea in the world. 

While the Dodgers are a team built to win now and their window of contention appears to be wide open for at least the next couple of seasons, there will be a few more options on the free-agent market next season who could come much cheaper. J.J. Hardy and Jed Lowrie will be the top shortstops available aside from Ramirez, while Asdrubal Cabrera could also be a popular name if he has a strong season.

And if the Dodgers would like to keep the big league path clear for top prospect Kyle Seager, who is likely to begin the 2014 season in High-A and could be knocking down the door to the majors by late 2015, they may not want to sign any shortstop to a long-term deal.

With that said, Ramirez’s value is high after his impressive half-season. It could be even higher if he can play 140-plus games and put up an .850-plus OPS with 25 homers and 20 stolen bases.

Barring a mediocre 2014, some team is very likely to pay him big money on a multi-year deal if he reaches free agency next offseason. The Dodgers will need to decide if they’re better off with or without him in the mix for 2015 and beyond and whether it’s worth adding another mega-contract to their payroll that will likely pay a player beyond his prime.

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Hanley Ramirez has a new cut, and it’s what’s known in the fashion business as “a whole thing.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop recently traded in his curls, opting for a straight, James Brown-esque flow he’s taken to flaunting on Instagram.

Ramirez’s new ‘do was spotted by Jonah Birenbaum of TheScore.com. It’s a look that says “It’s my birthday, I can blow dry if I want to.” 

The former NL Rookie of the Year rang in his 30th birthday with family Sunday. They had cake, and it was beautiful. 

What do you think of the flow? 

It’s reminiscent of Saturday Night Fever, which has its allure. I could picture Ramirez doing the “six guns of sexy” in the background of a Chromeo video with this haircut.

On the other hand, the Kat Williams look doesn’t exactly instill fear in the hearts of opponents.

At the end of the day, what matters in this game is production—which Ramirez cranked out in a relatively short span of games last season.

Ramirez gave a strong showing in 2013, producing 5.1 wins above replacement after only 86 appearances, according to Fangraphs. No mean feat. 

The real question is whether the Dodgers will ink a contract extension with the Dominican pro.

Ramirez baited fans with a tease earlier this December, posting an image to Instagram of himself on a plane, claiming he was headed to Los Angeles. 

The image insinuated he was flying in to sign a contract extension, but in truth, Ramirez was on a plane bound for the Dominican Republic. 

Will Hanley receive his extension? Perhaps. Considering the amount of money he’s probably spending on hair products just to keep his flow shimmering, Ramirez could use the money. 

Join me on Twitter for breaking developments concerning athlete hair.

Follow @Dr__Carson

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Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been held out of the lineup for Friday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants after leaving last night’s 3-2 win with an injured hamstring.

Ramirez was pulled out of the game in the top of the seventh inning by manager Don Mattingly with “mild left hamstring tightness,” according to the team.

Hanley Ramirez left the game for precautionary reasons with mild left hamstring tightness. #Dodgers

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 13, 2013

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Hanley Ramirez will return to the lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers today after sustaining a hamstring injury in early May, the team announced via Twitter:

In 2012, the three-time All-Star hit .271 with 10 home runs, 44 RBI, 30 runs and seven stolen bases in 64 games after being acquired by the Dodgers before the trade deadline. Los Angeles was hoping he would regain his All-Star form alongside August acquisitions Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, but he’s only played four games so far in 2013.

The 29-year-old shortstop, who was last an All-Star with the Miami Marlins in 2010, played in only 92 games in 2011 due to a shoulder injury. This year, he got injured running the bases on May 3.

Last season, the Dodgers went a combined 28-26 in August and September despite the acquisitions of Ramirez, Gonzalez, Crawford and right-hander Josh Beckett.

This season, it’s been even worse. Not only has it been a rocky campaign for summer signing Zack Greinke (4.80 ERA, fractured his collarbone in a brawl with San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin in April), the Dodgers are bottom-feeders in the National League West. This is despite grandiose expectations in the preseason.

Despite some big names in the lineup, they have been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball this season. Interestingly enough, Gonzalez and Crawford have bounced back, while two-time All-Star Matt Kemp has regressed.

In the midst of an ugly season, Los Angeles would love to see Ramirez rebound, as Gonzalez and Crawford have. This offense needs all the help it can get.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, courtesy of a Buster Posey walk-off home run. But more importantly, they may have lost their starting shortstop for a significant period of time.

Hanley Ramirez was helped off the field after he unsuccessfully attempted to go from first to third on a single by catcher A.J. Ellis. AT&T Park is not the field of dreams for Ramirez—he fractured his thumb in his last game there in March in the finals of the World Baseball Classic.

Clutching his hamstring on the way into the dugout certainly wasn’t a good sign, nor was the pained expression on his face. Manager Don Mattingly wasn’t too thrilled about it either. In fact, in comments made to reporters after the game, it was clear he’s downright shaken by it.

“We can’t keep losing guys at this rate,” Mattingly said. “This is going to end. Right now it doesn‘t look very good. … I’m not confident about anything at this moment.”

One Twitter joker suggested that Mattingly practice empathy instead of sympathy for his injured roster mates:

Who can blame Mattingly for feeling the way he does right now? He’s had to use nine starting pitchers already and the season is barely 30 games old. He was forced to use an infield on Friday night that had Jerry Hairston at first, Nick Punto at second, Justin Sellers at short and the slumping Luis Cruz at third.

My confidence would be pretty shaken just seeing an infield that looked like that too.

Adrian Gonzalez is nursing a sore neck, Carl Crawford is battling through his own hamstring issues, Mark Ellis could go on the DL with a strained quad and slugger Matt Kemp is still nowhere near 100 percent after offseason shoulder surgery.

Now, Ramirez, back for just his fourth game after returning from his thumb injury, could be lost for a substantial amount of time once again.

Mattingly likened Ramirez’s injury to that of Kemp’s hamstring strain last year. Kemp missed 51 games overall after two DL stints. Losing Ramirez for the same amount of time will absolutely force Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti to reassess the left side of their infield.

Their third baseman—Cruz—is hitting .098 and clearly looks lost at the plate. There could be a Triple-A stint in his near future. Backup Juan Uribe is hitting .200 with two homers in 17 games—he’s not a choice for a long-term gig. Sellers is hitting just .194, so he’s not a replacement that makes the Dodgers breathe easier right now, either.

Dee Gordon is currently toiling away at Triple-A Albuquerque, attempting to hone his skills and work on a more consistent hitting approach. He’s hitting .314 with 14 stolen bases, but the Dodgers had wanted to keep Gordon there—that may no longer be an option.

The Dodgers’ anemic offense produced 11 hits on Friday against the Giants, but only one of them went for extra-bases, and that was provided by starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw.  They stranded 13 runners, further adding to their offensive woes.

What Do the Dodgers Do at This Point?

That’s a question that has no clear answers. Their inability to produce in key situations is indeed troublesome. Kemp is hitting .267 with just one home run and 11 RBI. He’s hitting just .161 with runners in scoring position.

Andre Ethier is hitting just .250, including a .148 average with RISP. That’s two players with a combined value of $33.5 million hitting .155 in crucial situations.

Skip Schumaker, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals during the offseason, is hitting just .119 with one RBI, while Cruz is hitting .098 with two RBI.

If general manager Ned Colletti is looking for answers from within, he’s simply not going to find them.

Gonzalez’s neck injury is likely short-term, a Mattingly did say that he was available to pinch-hit if needed on Friday. So there’s that at least.

Aside from Gordon, Colletti doesn’t have many infield options internally. His best hitters at the Triple-A level include Scott Van Slyke and Alex Castellanos, both of whom man the outfield. Very few options are available on the open market as well, not to mention the fact that teams are generally unwilling to part with any pieces this early in the season unless they’re completely blown away by an offer.

And then there’s Mattingly himself. He was called into question for not playing small-ball on Friday night. In the top of the fourth inning of a scoreless game, catcher A.J. Ellis drew a walk, followed by a single by Ethier, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Cruz promptly followed up with a double-play grounder, ending the threat.

Fans on Twitter immediately questioned Mattingly’s failure to consider an important option:

Another fan was just a bit more to the point about his feelings:

You can find any number of experts who point to the sacrifice bunt as a useless offensive tool. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs is one of them:

Bunting for a base hit, putting on a well-timed squeeze, beating an overshifted defense, having a pitcher move a runner into scoring position… there’s room for bunting in baseball. The frequency of sacrificing bunting that is prevalent now, though, is simply incorrect strategy, and the sooner it is removed from the sport, the better off Major League teams will be.

Cameron and others may be right about that, but considering the Dodgers’ current state of affairs, couldn’t it at least have been considered? Especially with the struggling Cruz coming up?

Coming up with different ways to score—especially on the road in a pitcher-friendly park—has to be considered. Stranding 13 runners and the complete inability to produce in key situations warrants a change of thinking.

Mattingly isn’t helping his own cause by failing to consider these options with his team struggling mightily at the plate. Injuries aside, he needs to adjust his way of thinking when run-scoring opportunities are presented.

Answers aren’t going to come for the Dodgers via the trade market at this point. They’re going to have to ride out the injuries and hope that key offensive contributors like Kemp and Ethier can break out of their funks are start doing what they’re paid very handsomely to do: produce.

There are no quick fixes at this point in the season. Colletti isn’t in a position that gives him an advantage. Even if he were to reach out to other teams to find a fix, opposing general managers have the upper hand in knowing that the Dodgers are desperate for help. They will be looking for a return package in any deal that would be much more advantageous for them then it would be for Los Angeles.

If Colletti wants to deal, it will cost him dearly. And the Dodgers have already paid dearly for the roster currently assembled.

Fixing the offense is not going to happen overnight. Kemp isn’t suddenly going to have a shoulder that’s 100 percent healthy. There’s no magical cure that can put Ramirez back on the field any quicker.

The onus is on the roster to collectively pick itself up, dust itself off and start delivering. The onus in on Mattingly to be more creative with run-scoring opportunities. The onus is on the bullpen to keep the team in the game.

Ramirez will return at some point. Kemp will be completely healthy at some point as well. Players like Zack Greinke, Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly and others will return as well. It’s up to Mattingly and the roster to stay afloat and ride out the storm.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Feel free to talk baseball with Doug anytime on Twitter.

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Hanley Ramirez was helped off the field Friday night after clutching his left hamstring following a slide into third base.

UPDATE: Saturday, May 4, at 6:21 p.m. ET by Tom Kinslow

—End of update—

The Los Angeles Dodgers (via Twitter) verified the injury after he was removed from play Friday night:

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that Ramirez is going to the disabled list.

Andrew Baggarly of CSN San Francisco originally speculated after the play that Ramirez likely would be headed back to the disabled list, which proves this is a serious injury (via Twitter):

If Ramirez misses any significant time, it will be another setback for the infielder. Nothing is official yet, but he could be heading back to the DL just three games after making his season debut.

He recently made his first start of the year during the Dodgers’ April 30 win over the Colorado Rockies. Ramirez was sidelined until that point after undergoing offseason thumb surgery to repair a torn ligament in the finger.

Ramirez homered in that first start to help spark a stagnant Dodgers offense that has scored just 91 runs so far in this young 2013 season. That’s good enough for second to last in baseball.

Expect the Dodgers’ offensive struggles to continue as long as they have key players like Ramirez in the dugout and not on the field. No one else on the diamond seems to be ready to play ball at this point, and Ramirez’s return was the lone beacon of hope for the club.

That beacon appears to be slowly fading, as the shortstop could have significantly injured his hamstring.

Slugger Matt Kemp has also yet to find his groove and could still be feeling the effects of offseason shoulder surgery.

The Dodgers aren’t in despair just yet. Despite their offensive woes, the team is close to .500. They should be all right in the long run if they can remain in contention in the NL West until their bats come around.

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The Dodgers‘ offense is so bad.

[This is where you’re supposed to chime in by shouting in unison, “How bad is it?”]

So bad it’s keeping the Marlins‘ offense company.

One of the big stories so far in 2013 is the utter ineptitude of Miami’s hitters, who own an aggregate triple-slash line of .229/.288/.315. This was, more or less, to be expected, given the club’s quadruple-A roster.

The Dodgers, though? The big-market, big-spending, big-name, revamped, retooled and revitalized Dodgers? Well, they were supposed to take the NL West and all of baseball by storm.

And yet, their 91 runs scored in 27 games is the second-lowest total in baseball.

Some storm.

Blame Matt Kemp, who may not be all the way back from offseason shoulder surgery just yet, as he is hitting just .260 with one homer, 11 RBI and a .655 OPS after a blistering April a year ago.

Or blame Andre Ethier, who’s sort of just coasting along with a .237 average, three homers, nine RBI and a .717 OPS.

Better yet, blame the left side of the infield, where the shortstop trio of Justin Sellers, Luis Cruz and Nick Punto has combined for a .584 OPS (eighth-worst in the majors).

And if we really want to get to the root of the problem, there’s the third base crew of Juan Uribe, Cruz, Jerry Hairston and Punto, who have managed an MLB-worst .443 OPS.

Forget the rain, we know who to blame it on now.

Enter Hanley Ramirez: Savior?

In baseball, one player is never enough to make an offense go, let alone fix what ails a collection of struggling stars like the Dodgers. But how much can Ramirez help the Dodgers’ floundering offense now that he’s returned from a torn ligament in his right thumb sooner than expected—but not a moment too soon?

Look, Ramirez is almost certainly no longer the five-to-six win player he was with the Marlins from 2006-10, when he compiled the fifth-most wins above replacement in the game over that five-year stretch.

Back then, Ramirez also ranked in the top 20 in weighted runs created plus, or wRC+, a metric used to determine how many runs above average a player is worth on offense (where 100 is league average). In Ramirez’s case, he was 36 runs better than the average player in that time-frame.

But even if Ramirez never gets back to his former self, he’ll be a major upgrade for the Dodgers. Essentially, by playing Ramirez at shortstop in place of that smorgasbord of atrocity that had been “holding down the fort,” the club will be getting addition by subtraction and addition by addition.

Together, Dodgers shortstops currently own MLB’s third-worst wRC+ with a score of 30—meaning the position has created 70 percent fewer runs than the league average.

By himself, Ramirez’s wRC+ in 2012 was 107, meaning he created runs at a rate of seven percent above league average. It’s not Hanley in his heyday, but the Dodgers don’t need that—they need someone to not be the worst in the entire sport on offense.

Even though we passed around the blame baton above, Ramirez won’t have to do everything by himself because not everyone on the team is at fault for the offensive-offense.

New Dodgers Adrian Gonzalez (.330 BA, 3 HR, 20 RBI, .888 OPS) and Carl Crawford (.308 BA, 4 HR, 20 R, .905 OPS) have proved to be rather productive in their first full seasons with the team, so Ramirez won’t have to do it all by himself.

Plus, both Kemp and Ethier will pick up their portion of the slack soon, too.

The other semi-good news is that the club’s .250 batting average is at least in the middle of the pack (16th overall), and the .327 on-base percentage is actually in the top 10.

Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers biggest problem on O is getting extra-base hits, as they rank third-worst with a .362 SLG and are in the bottom five in each of doubles (37), triples (1) and homers (20).

While Ramirez used to be one of the better hitters for average—he batted .313 from 2006-10—that has been trending downward over the past three seasons.

What Ramirez can still do, though, even if he’s only hitting .250-.270, is drive the ball, which is exactly what the Dodgers need and what Ramirez has done since returning, as he homered and doubled in his first start (see video) and hit another two-bagger in his second.

He might not be bringing sexy back, but Ramirez helps the Dodgers make up for the things they lack.

Through a sluggish start, the Dodgers have managed to hover around .500 (currently 13-14), and while they’re in fourth place in the NL West, they’re only 2.5 games-back of the Rockies for the division lead—not exactly an insurmountable distance.

Now, the Dodgers’ hitters just have to work on putting some distance between themselves and those Marlins.

All statistics come from MLB, FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

Can Hanley help the Dodgers? Let’s hear it in the comments or come pester me on Twitter: @JayCat11

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