April takeaways: First-place Red Sox playing hard for John Farrell

11:56 AM ET

Twenty-eight days after they opened the season on a frosty afternoon in Cleveland, the Boston Red Sox awoke Tuesday in sole possession of first place in the American League East.

“It’s still early,” third baseman Travis Shaw said, “but early or not, you still want to be first place and that’s what we are.”

The Red Sox are in first place despite the fact that slugging Hanley Ramirez has hit one home run, ace lefty David Price owns a 6.14 ERA, new closer Craig Kimbrel has appeared shaky at times, and neither lefty Eduardo Rodriguez nor reliever Carson Smith has thrown a pitch because of spring-training injuries.

So, what are we to make of the 15-10 Red Sox? Here are five takeaways from April.

1. Ramirez doesn’t have many home runs, but at last, he’s a hit.

Through 25 games last season, Ramirez had 10 homers and a .949 OPS in 92 at-bats. At the same point this year, he has one homer and a .689 OPS in 99 at-bats.

And we would take 2016 Hanley over the 2015 version every day and twice on Sunday.

Never mind that Ramirez is a more complete player now, his adjustment to first base having gone more smoothly than anyone expected and far better than that train wreck of an experiment in left field. He’s also hustling on the bases and playing with a team-first mentality rather than worrying about only himself. Arguably the Red Sox’s biggest headache heading into spring training, he has been a model citizen.

As long as Ramirez stays healthy, the home runs will come. In the meantime, the Red Sox will take his .290 average with runners in scoring position, error-less defense and positive attitude.

2. Don’t expect Pablo Sandoval to rise like a phoenix — or John Lackey — next year.

When team officials finally decide to share details of the left shoulder injury that will send Sandoval to Dr. James Andrews’ operating table this week, they undoubtedly will express disappointment over the fact that he will miss the rest of the season.

In reality, though, it’s a blessing.

Sandoval wasn’t going to win back his job from Shaw, who has been the second-best hitter on the team behind 40-year-old David Ortiz. And although he said the right things publicly about wanting to do what’s best for the team, Sandoval wasn’t happy coming off the bench, a role for which …

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