Cleveland Guardians’ rising star Kyle Manzardo is the man of the moment in Ohio, at least baseball-wise.
He is on a power binge and leads the team with seven home runs in just 21 games.
He is a very competitive person, but as it turns out, he is currently beating another ultra-competitive player in the power race: Jose Ramirez.
J-Ram has five long balls after going yard on Monday against the Yankees, a game in which Manzardo also cleared the fence.
News 5 Cleveland reporter Camryn Justice described the ‘unofficial competition’ going on at the moment.
“Kyle Manzardo is leading the #Guardians in HRs so far this season, hitting his 7th of the year right after José Ramírez hit his fifth homer of the year today. I asked them about the unofficial HR race and found out it might be driving the very competitive José to go yard,” she posted on X.
Kyle Manzardo is leading the #Guardians in HRs so far this season, hitting his 7th of the year right after José Ramírez hit his fifth homer of the year today.
I asked them about the unofficial HR race and found out it might be driving the very competitive José to go yard.😂 pic.twitter.com/udvAi5Ejzv
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) April 22, 2025
Manzardo will have a tough challenge ahead if he wants to beat Ramirez in this particular race.
The guy just hit 39 long balls last year and is consistently over 30, while Manzardo’s seven this year represent his career-high.
It will certainly be an interesting storyline to follow this year.
As seen in the clip, Manzardo acknowledges how competitive Ramirez is and says he wants him to ‘keep it up, too’ with a big smile.
Manager Stephen Vogt also referred to the benefits of internal competition, and if Manzardo will have a hand in helping Ramirez show his best version every day, the Guards will certainly welcome it.
The more hitters joining this fun race, the better it will be for Cleveland.
NEXT: Guardians Slugger Leads MLB In Key Power Stat Since 2017
