There is likely no one more grateful that the Cleveland Guardians are back in the playoffs than third baseman Jose Ramirez. After a down season that was diminished further by an injury, it would have been easy to point to Ramirez as one of the main culprits had the Guardians fallen short of the postseason for the first time since 2023.
Instead, the 34-year-old gets a golden opportunity to write a much more fulfilling ending. With Game 1 of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox coming up on Saturday, Ramirez can remind everyone what kind of player he truly is.
MLB.com has named the Guardians All-Star a player to watch in the postseason, calling him a “sleeping giant.”
“Player to watch: Jose Ramirez. After needing surgery to repair a fractured left hamate bone in June, ‘J-Ram’ didn’t look much like himself. He had just a .598 OPS with two home runs after the All-Star break. But it can take time to get right after a hamate surgery, so we’ll call the seven-time All-Star a ‘sleeping giant.’ The Guardians will certainly need Ramirez to make a deep October run,” MLB.com wrote.
Ramirez entered the campaign trying to become just the second player in MLB history, along with Barry Bonds, to have three straight 30-30 seasons. But that quest became unrealistic after Ramirez went 24 games without a home run from late April to mid-May.
During that time, his batting average dipped as low as .207, which was unheard of for the seven-time All-Star. Then, after restoring his OPS to a more respectable .757, Ramirez injured his wrist on June 13 and missed 30 games.
He returned on July 22 and, unfortunately, picked up where he left off. He did not hit a home run until Aug. 30, a span of 29 games, and he finished the season with just 12, which was his fewest since the 2016 season. His final OPS was .668, ending a streak of 10 straight seasons above .800.
Fortunately, the Guardians were able to overcome this drop in production, thanks to good seasons from rookies Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana, and breakout young veterans Brayan Rocchio and Angel Martinez. Now, Ramirez will try to do his part in helping Cleveland to a long postseason run.
In his playoff career, Ramirez has just four home runs with a .234 batting average and .681 OPS in 45 games, so he may feel like he still has a lot to prove in that area as well.
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