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Hanley Ramirez leaves Monday's game after crashing into left field wall

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer

It's early, but Red Sox outfielder Hanley Ramirez has looked like an MVP candidate at the plate through the first 24 games of the season.

Ramirez has been a stud offensive, but his conversion to the outfield has been an area of concern. Those issues were on display Monday as Ramirez had to leave the contest in the first inning after crashing into the left field wall.

Ramirez has had his adventures in left field thus far, but that wasn't the case here. Given the ball's placement, there was little Ramirez could do to avoid the wall if he was going to attempt to make the catch.

After slamming into the surface, Ramirez held his left arm in place.

Once the play had ended, trainers came out to take a look at Ramirez. After a few minutes, he left the game and walked straight into the team's clubhouse. He was replaced by Allen Craig in left.

Shortly after Ramirez was removed from the contest, the club announced he's dealing with a left shoulder sprain.

After Boston's 5-1 loss, the club said Ramirez was "day to day," hopeful he could avoid the disabled list, but not certain.

Over the past four seasons, Ramirez has played in over 130 games just one time. He previous underwent surgery on his left shoudler, which forced him to miss 52 games in 2011. Thumb and hamstring issues limited him to 86 games in 2013, and various injuries caused him to play in 124 last year.

At 12-13, Boston finds themselves right in the middle of the jumbled American League East. Many expected the race for the division to be tight this season, so losing Ramirez for a significant amount of time would certainly be a significant loss.

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For now, it's unclear how much time, if any, Ramirez will miss. While the club can gut it out if Ramirez misses a few games, a lengthy stay on the disabled list would be a devastating blow.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik