The Boston Red Sox equipment truck leaves in two week for Ft. Myers, Florida, in two weeks. Spring training is closing in on us. The Sox have spent the winter looking for an impact bat to add to the lineup, a search that could continue as that truck heads down I-95.

Meantime, one Red Sox hitter believes he can help fill the power void in 2018. Hanley Ramirez is well aware that the Sox hit the fewest home runs in the American League last season. He thinks he can be part of the solution this season.

Hanley Ramirez

“We can win with what we have right now,” Ramirez said Saturday at Red Sox Winter Weekend in Mashantucket, Connecticut. “We did it last year. Why can’t we do it this year?”

The Red Sox won 93 games last year, finishing first in the American League East for the second straight year. They were also eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year, a defeat that lead to manager John Farrell being replaced by Alex Cora.

Ramirez did his best to try to help the Sox against the eventual World Champion Houston Astros in the AL Division Series. He went 8-for-14 with a pair of runs scored and three more driven in. He tried to rally the fans when he carried a “Believe in Boston” banner out onto the field before Game 3 in Boston. It was the only game the Sox would win in the series.

Ramirez had a down season, battling a shoulder injury and hitting a career-low .242. He hit 23 home runs, second only to Mookie Betts on the Sox.

“With one arm,” Ramirez was quick to point out Saturday. His message was clear: medically cleared after shoulder surgery, he expects to do more damage in 2018.

I asked him if doubling his healthy shoulders meant he could double his home run production. Could this be the first year he hits 40 in the big leagues?

“Write it down,” said Ramirez.

It’s been 13 years since Ramirez made his MLB debut with the Sox at the age of 21. Cora was a teammate then. A year later he won the National League Rookie of the Year award with the Marlins. He led the NL with a .342 batting average in 2009.

It’s also been eight years since he’s been named to an All-Star Team. He returned to Boston before the 2015 season and wants to finish his career by winning a championship with the team he started with. He truly believes in Boston, and considers it his home.

“This is my house,” said Ramirez. “This is home. I got signed by the Red Sox when I was 16. I think it’s like me playing for a team in the Dominican. The Red Sox are the same thing. I want to win here, and I want to stay here. At the same time you’ve got to produce. That’s how it is.”

It may have been a disappointing regular season for Hanley, but the four games against the Astros were a brief reminder that he has always been at his best in the post-season. He’s a career .380 hitter in the playoffs with a 1.027 OPS. That’s .125 higher than his OPS in the regular season.

“Mentally I just get tougher,” said Ramirez. “It’s go time. You do it every day in the regular season, but it’s lights up when they say ‘play ball’ in the playoffs. I guess I’m a pressure guy. When the pressure comes, I want to do better.”

Despite that, he’s never been to a World Series. The closest he came was in 2013 when his Dodgers lost to the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series. He’s driven to get back to the post-season this year, and has no doubt the Sox can go further than they have in the past two years.

“We can be world champs in 2018,” said Ramirez. “We’ve got to stay ready and fight together. I think we have one of the best teams in the big leagues right now.”

Tom Caron is a studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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