Jose Ramirez may not be available to the Cleveland Guardians for at least five weeks after he broke a bone in his wrist during their game on Saturday. It’s a worrisome setback because, despite a down season by his standards, the third baseman is still regarded as the team’s best player.
If there is a bright side, Ramirez should be back in time to help the Guardians make a final push for a playoff berth, as they are currently tied for first place in the AL Central and are second in the AL Wild Card race. However, it is uncertain what Ramirez will be capable of when he does return from left hamate bone surgery.
That is why analyst Anthony Castrovince is raising a concern about Ramirez’s post-injury performance, saying he may lack the power that is so vital to the Guardians’ lineup.
“It’s not gonna be something where it’s season-ending, most likely. So, he’ll be back for the final playoff push, so that’s all good. But anytime you get involved with stuff around the hands and wrists with a power hitter, you don’t know how quickly the power comes back. He could be back in five weeks, but will the power be there? You just don’t know. There’s so many different outcomes with this particular procedure, and he’s had it himself on the other hand,” Castrovince said.
"It's not gonna be season ending, but anytime you get involved with stuff around the hands and wrists with a power hitter you don't know how quickly the power comes back. There's so many different outcomes with this procedure."
📞@castrovince on the Guardians & Jose Ramirez… pic.twitter.com/JLwKttOq2v
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 15, 2026
Ramirez has appeared in all of Cleveland’s 72 games this season, the only Guardians player to do so. With 10 home runs, he was on pace to hit 22, which would be his lowest full-season total since 2016.
Though his .757 OPS is well below his usual career marks as well, he was contributing in other ways, with 18 doubles, 41 walks and 24 stolen bases. He had been moved to second in the batting order after hitting third for most of the past few years.
Ramirez had surgery on his right hamate, a small bone in the wrist, in August 2019. He also faced a 5-7-week recovery timeline then, but he returned to the lineup in about a month. He hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in his first two at-bats, and he added another home run before being shut down when Cleveland was eliminated from playoff contention.
Ramirez will have a much longer runway after his return this season, if all goes according to plan, and if he can produce the way he did coming back from that other similar injury, the Guardians should be just fine for the rest of the season.
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