Cleveland Guardians star third baseman Jose Ramirez is slowly but steadily debunking a myth. People said he couldn’t perform when it mattered most, in the postseason. And, to an extent, they were right. The analysis is more complex than X player is clutch and Y player isn’t, though.
Going up against the murmurs and the pressure of being the Guardians’ franchise player, not to mention a wrist/hands that keeps preventing him from showing his best version at the plate this year, Ramirez is emphatically silencing the critics. After a rather discreet performance in Games 1 and 2 of the American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, he has been carrying Cleveland in Games 3 and 4 in Chicago.
In the last two games, Ramirez has singled, doubled, tripled, homered, stolen a base, driven in runs, and scored some of his own. He has done it all at the plate, including socking a clutch go-ahead two-run blast on Thursday.
J-Ram, a hero in Cleveland regardless of the outcome of the series, wants Guardians fans to put together an unforgettable atmosphere on Saturday’s Game 5. He said he wants to feed from fans’ energy.
“I think it’s going to be crazy. It’s going to be an incredible energy. For us, it’s going to be the same mindset: Try to win the game and enjoy the environment that’s going to be at Progressive,” Ramirez said.
"I think it's going to be crazy."
(Via MLB Video) #Guardians José RamÃrez on the environment he expects to see from a Cleveland crowd at Progressive Field in Game 5#GuardsBall @WEWS pic.twitter.com/7KhJ7gNRCb
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) October 9, 2026
Progressive Field is ready for an unforgettable night. The job will be extremely difficult, though, as the White Sox remain a highly dangerous squad that is, like the Guardians, just a win away from the League Championship Series. It’s win or go home for both organizations.
It’s rather odd that either of the two teams has been able to win at home during the series. It’s also a bit fluky, so expect Cleveland to feel the support of an entire city that will be behind them, and expect the Guardians, whose offense appears to be heating up at the right time against the tiring White Sox staff, to be much more competitive on Saturday than they were at Progressive Field during the first two games.
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