MINNEAPOLIS -- Robin Ventura doesn’t believe Alexei Ramirez’s latest mistake is a result of the White Sox veteran being tired.
If that were the case, Ventura said he’d give Ramirez a day off. But the White Sox manager believes Ramirez’s throwing error in Monday’s loss was a mental mistake and thinks the shortstop is motivated to bounce back after his latest poor play -- even if it draws the ire of the team’s fans on social media.
“There are times when you do give him that day, and I don’t think this is that time,” Ventura said. “He wants to get back in there as quick as he can and play. We always know there are times he’ll go through if you look at it that he might have a game like that and then he comes back and plays well. He’s not happy about it. I know that, in talking to him, but he wants to get back in there and play. I don’t think he’s fatigued at all.”
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Ramirez’s overall play has fallen off in 2015.
Whereas he was a Gold Glove finalist and a Silver Slugger Award winner in 2014, he’s seen his numbers on both ends decrease. Ramirez is 25th of 27 qualified shortstops with minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved, according to Fangraphs.com. And he’s hitting .227/.249/.298 with two homers and 26 RBIs in 269 plate appearances.
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But Ramirez is certainly not alone in his struggles and Ventura won’t assign the blame to him alone when so many other players are struggling.
“I’m not going to sit here and put it on him,” Ventura said. “He wants to play better. We want him to play better. But there’s a lot of other guys that need to do the same thing. We’re not going to put it on any one guy. There’s plenty to go around.
“This one he’s going to play through.”