Slight Panic

Something is wrong with Manny Ramirez.

I hate to be a hypocrite because there’s nothing I can’t stand more than listening to New York sports talk radio and hearing callers yell and scream that the best player in baseball will never be a “true Yankee” or having Mets fans wish death upon Carlos Beltran after one game.

But it’s true. Right now, Manny stinks and I’m worried.

With him, it could be anything from not liking the way his new cleats look to feeling neglected because he doesn’t have a nickname like Big Papi. It actually could be much worse. Maybe he just forgot how to hit. If ever a guy could become a real life Pedro Serrano in Major League II, it’s Manny.

Ramirez is hitting just .255 with 6 RBI so far this season. I understand that he isn’t exactly an April/May hitter, but this is the worst he has ever been. He still hasn’t hit a homerun – the longest stretch to start a season of his career.

He is also tied for sixth in the majors with 17 strikeouts and a lot of times, he hasn’t even been close. Over the weekend, I watched him swing at a pitch and almost completely spin around – Call it, Manny being princess.

You can’t just throw him in the deep end (that’s sick because he might really not know how to swim) yet because he is one of the best hitters of the past decade. But if he isn’t hitting in June, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear him vent his frustration and request another trade.