BOSTON - Hanley Ramirez remains on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, but he's working towards a return to the field - specifically, first base.
Though there's no timetable for Ramirez's return, the Sox infielder-turned-outfielder-turning-back-into-infielder-again is still around the team and appears to be in fine spirits.
He also appears to be willing to go all-in on efforts to learn yet another position, first base.
"My conversations with Hanley have been very productive, very good in the way that he wants to get out there and do this and make it happen," Torey Lovullo said. "That's a positive for us and a positive for him. So he's excited about it, he wants to do it, and from the first day that we mentioned that this was going to happen, he bought into it. He's a team guy."
It's now fact that Ramirez won't play in the outfield again for the Red Sox. He's taking instruction at first base and once deemed healthy enough by Red Sox medical staff expects to play the position this season. It's the live-game practice he'll need if he is in fact the team's starting first baseman to begin the 2016 season.
"He talks about winning a championship as a first baseman and really he's engaged in that thought," Lovullo said. "So [playing first base upon his activation] is a possibility. We haven't gotten that far down the road, but certainly if he's going to be active we want him to play as soon as possible. But his health is going to tell us when that time is up."