MLB pitching is increasingly hard to hit.
Pitchers come up with creative ways to add velocity, spin, and movement to their pitches every year.
Every season, we see hurlers fooling batters more and more often.
Not Jose Ramirez, though.
The Cleveland Guardians star boasts a unique combination of plate coverage, hitting smarts, quick wrists, and a lightning-fast mind.
These traits give pitchers fits, because you won’t easily fool Ramirez in the strike zone.
That’s what Bill Ripken, a former MLB player in the eighties and nineties, loves about Ramirez.
“He’s never off-balance when he’s swinging at strikes…it’s impressive to watch this man play.” – Bill Ripken on José Ramírez,” MLB Network posted on X, with a short video of the analysis.
"He's never off-balance when he's swinging at strikes…it's impressive to watch this man play."
– Bill Ripken on José Ramírez@CleGuardians | #MLBCentral pic.twitter.com/13NYClxoUw
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 7, 2025
The current MLB Network analyst showed the audience a video of the day Ramirez hit three home runs last week.
Two of them came in pitches down in the zone: the first one against a 98-mph fastball and the second one vs. an 88-mph changeup.
The third one came against a 93-mph heater upstairs, even a little bit out of the zone.
It doesn’t matter if you pitch him high heat or breaking pitches low and away: if it’s in the zone or even nearby, Ramirez has the plate coverage and quick wrists to do some damage.
It’s very, very hard to fool him: he goes up there with a plan and has the physical skills and baseball IQ to execute it with baffling frequency.
More importantly, he can change or alter his strategy along the way depending on how the pitcher approaches him.
Maybe one day we all realize the hitting genius Cleveland has and has had for years.
NEXT: Guardians Urged Not To Delay Prospect Call-Up
