FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Hanley Ramirez has a solution for the Boston Red Sox's power-hitting deficiency.
A healthy Hanley Ramirez.
"Oh, yeah. No doubt," Ramirez said Friday after reporting to spring training. "You're gonna see it, for sure. Literally, I was hitting with one arm last year and I hit 23 [home runs]. Now that I feel good, there are not going to be excuses. Better go out there and hit 30."
As a team, the Red Sox ranked last in the American League last season with 168 home runs, the first time they finished at the bottom of the league in that category since 1993. Mookie Betts led the team with 24 homers, fewer than Giancarlo Stanton or J.D. Martinez hit after the All-Star break.
Throughout the offseason, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has listed "power hitter" as the team's top priority. But the Sox have been unable to agree on contract terms with Martinez, the marquee name among more than 100 free agents who remain unsigned.
It was notable, then, that Ramirez showed up to camp two days early and declared he's healthy after having left shoulder surgery in October. He batted .242 with a .750 OPS and drove in 62 runs last season, production that he labeled as "terrible." But Ramirez is also only one year removed from a 30-homer season in 2016 and is confident he can reach that level again.
"I know I can get 100 RBIs and 30 homers," he said.
Ramirez, 34, attributed that confidence to fitness level and a change in his offseason routine. He said he has dropped 15 pounds after adopting some of the methods outlined in Tom Brady's book, "The TB12 Method." An avid lifter of heavy weights throughout his career, Ramirez has focused instead on using resistance bands to improve his pliability.
"When you're young, you need the big muscles to get stronger," Ramirez said. "When you get in that age past 30, you've got to concentrate on the little muscles. You get that power from the big muscles, [but] when you get hurt, most of the times those little muscles stop working. You've got to keep working on those little muscles, which is what those bands do. They give you resistance and keep the little muscles working.
"The good thing about Tom Brady is winning. He's winning and making his team better. When you've got a guy like that, who inspires people to get better and to show others that age is just a number, when you do the little things right, that's what he does."
Staying healthy could prove very lucrative for Ramirez. He has a $22 million vesting option for 2019 that will kick in if he exceeds 497 plate appearances this year. Otherwise, he would become a free agent in the packed 2018-19 class that could be headlined by sluggers Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson.
If the Red Sox eventually reach an agreement with Martinez to be the primary designated hitter, Ramirez might find playing time scarce, especially considering the team re-signed first baseman Mitch Moreland. But new manager Alex Cora maintained that he intends to base Ramirez's at-bats strictly on performance.
"We expect Hanley to hit," Cora said. "If he hits, he's going to play."
Said Ramirez: "We're not thinking about contract. We just want to win a championship and produce. If you produce and win, they're going to take care of it at the end of the year. I know that I'm going to hit. They're going to find a place for me in the lineup."