Ramirez faces big-league adjustment
TUCSON, Ariz. -- When it comes to making a big impression, Alexei Ramirez is wasting little time making it happen.
During Ramirez's first live batting practice session with the White Sox on Friday, general manager Kenny Williams was sitting in a golf cart down the left-field line. Williams had to crane his neck to follow the flight of a ball Ramirez hit off John Danks before it disappeared over the fence.
For as solid as he looked during his debut at the plate, Ramirez needs to adjust his long swing if he hopes to make consistent contact against major-league pitching.
"When you swing the bat it's not easy, because you're not in shape to swing the bat,'' Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.
A career .334 hitter for Pinar del Rio in his native Cuba, where he played for seven seasons, the 26-year-old Ramirez knows he's going to have to make a big adjustment.
"I see a lot of changeups and cutters, some pitches that, yeah, I saw in Cuba,'' Ramirez said through an interpreter. "But not with the quality they throw them here in the States.''
As for his defensive play, the versatile Ramirez has already wowed Guillen.
"When you see this kid take groundballs, to impress me taking groundballs takes a lot,'' Guillen said. "I played (shortstop) for a long time. The one thing I know about baseball is shortstop, and I see this kid take groundballs next to Orlando Cabrera, and he really impressed me.''
Ramirez said he's most comfortable at short, but with Cabrera joining the White Sox' roster in a trade from the Angels, Ramirez is likely to wind up at second base. He can also play center field.
"When I first came to the (Cuban) national team, I had played shortstop all of my life,'' said Ramirez, who defected to the Dominican Republic in late September. "But they had a good veteran shortstop on the national team, so the coaches asked if I could play somewhere else. I said: 'No problem.' That's how I started playing everywhere, but I also consider my best position shortstop.''
In addition to adjusting to better pitching, Ramirez is dealing with a new culture. Fortunately, Sox starting pitcher Jose Contreras has gone through a similar situation.
Contreras defected from Cuba in 2002 and signed with the New York Yankees. Before leaving, Contreras played with Ramirez for three seasons.
"He was helping me back then, and now that I'm here, he's helping me already,'' said Ramirez, who was Contreras' dinner guest Friday night. "Talking about pitching and how things are here in the big leagues.''
Contreras said Ramirez has all of the tools to make an impact with the White Sox.
"He's a very good player, as you all have heard,'' Contreras said. "He can do a lot of things. He can throw, he can run. He can hit for power and average. That's what I saw back then. That's what everyone was talking throughout these years, that he was one of the best players on the national team.''
Ramirez signed a four-year, $4.75 million contract with the White Sox on Jan. 22. According to ESPNdeportes, the slightly built Ramirez also worked out for the Cubs, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Indians, Reds, Twins and A's.
In addition to putting up big numbers (.335, 20 HR, 68 RBI) in 89 games with Pinar del Rio last season, Ramirez helped Cuba win the gold medal in the Pan American Games.
He was an obvious talent in Cuba, but Ramirez now has to show he can produce at baseball's highest level.
"He can do a lot of things and I like what I see,'' Guillen said. "Hopefully, he carries on. I think the most important step for him is to get adapted to this game. It's not the same. You're going to face the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers, the New York Yankees. You're not going to face Costa Rica and Mexico and Peru.
"This is baseball. It's about adapting and playing with this caliber.''