Cleveland Guardians fans have been blessed to have front-row seats to future Hall of Famer Jose Ramirez’s entire career, which began when he was called up in 2013 and will hopefully run all the way until the end of his new contract extension, which has him tied to the organization through 2032. He continues to carry this offense on his back year after year while remaining in great health and being the consummate teammate and leader that this fan base can be proud of.
The only thing that Ramirez could do to make things better would be to clone himself so the team could have more than one of him. According to some, perhaps that notion isn’t so crazy.
Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto recently spent a week in Goodyear, Arizona to observe the Guardians in Spring Training, and he came away impressed with Class-A infielder Dauri Hernandez.
He was so impressed that he even made some comparisons to Jose Ramirez.
“Dauri Fernandez. He is a class A infielder and he played in rookie ball. I saw him in a few innings and so he looks kind of interesting. And then I looked up his stats. I mean we’re talking rookie ball now. They were really good. He moves real well. I mean one guy was telling me, you know, it’s kind of a little bit like when Jose [Ramirez] was real young. And of course everybody’s always looking for the next Jose. But there was some of that, that even though he’s a teenager, it looks like he knows how to play. He just seemed to have some poise out there in the field,” Pluto said.
This is high praise for a kid who just turned 19. As wild as it may sound, it’s easy to draw connections between the two.
Fernandez is only 5’9″, just like Ramirez, and has already displayed impressive speed on the bases and patience at the dish that you wouldn’t expect from a 19-year-old. He is also a switch-hitter like Ramirez, which is sadly becoming a dying art.
He has yet to settle into a single position on the infield, but he has displayed a strong arm and could project as a second or third baseman long-term, which is what a lot of people saw in Ramirez at a similar age.
Guardians fans don’t need to start counting the days until Jose Ramirez 2.0 shows up, but it’s encouraging to see someone like this in the system. Ramirez is among the most highly-regarded players in baseball by his peers, and there are much worse guys a prospect could model his game after.
NEXT: New Guardians Slugger Is Making His Mark In Spring Training
