The Cleveland Guardians had to get by without their veteran leader for most of Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
A bizarre turn of events led to José Ramírez tweaking his ankle pretty badly when he was trying to make a play on an infield single.
He landed awkwardly on the bag as he attempted to avoid a throw, and he stayed on the field for a while before eventually being helped up.
He left the field under his own power and was replaced by Daniel Schneemann in the third inning.
Needless to say, losing a player of his caliber is a big blow not only for his production but also because of his leadership.
At least, that’s how Steve Kwan and the rest of the team feel:
“He’s our leader for a reason,” Kwan said. “He plays the game 100%. He never takes a day off, and with that comes those risks, so it’s scary to see him go down.”
Fortunately, it seems like Ramírez avoided major injury.
Manager Stephen Vogt claimed that the reports were good, although he was pretty sore.
Ramírez has always been the kind of player who plays through pain and injury, but he’s not getting any younger.
The 32-year-old might not be able to take the field for a couple of days.
He will be reevaluated on Saturday, and the team will most likely share an update then.
Ramírez hasn’t been on the IL since 2019 when he sustained a broken hamate bone.
He’s played in at least 152 games per season after that.
This year, however, he also had to leave the field against the Kansas City Royals after spraining his wrist on a slide on a stolen-base attempt.
He was back just a couple of days later, and hopefully, this will be the case again this time around.
NEXT: Guardians Veteran Reliever Has Hit A Wall In Recent Games
