Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez hasn’t had a particularly memorable start to the 2025 campaign.
Yes, he has been solid, with a 117 wRC+ before taking the field on Wednesday.
His .272/.331/.448 line is good.
However, it is definitely not close to his ceiling.
Last year, for example, Ramirez posted a 141 wRC+ and boasts a 129 mark for his career.
He has been steady as usual, but everybody in baseball, including the Guardians themselves, knows he has much more to give.
To be fair, J-Ram has had to endure two separate injury-related scares this year: one with his wrist, and a more recent one with his ankle.
Maybe being banged up has affected him a bit, but he is currently not among the team leaders in fWAR (FanGraphs’ version of Wins Above Replacement) as Guardians Prospective illustrates.
Cleveland #Guardians current leaders in fWAR:
Kwan 1.4
Schneemann 0.9
Arias 0.7
Naylor 0.7 https://t.co/vNRKGn7bSf— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 7, 2025
This is a ranking that Ramirez usually leads, thanks to his elite offensive, defensive, and baserunning contributions.
This year, he is still stuck in second gear, though.
Steven Kwan, Daniel Schneemann, Gabriel Arias, Bo Naylor, Austin Hedges, Cade Smith, and Kyle Manzardo all have more fWAR than J-Ram.
Expect the talented infielder to pick it up in the upcoming weeks and start soaring up the team WAR leaderboard; if he is fully healthy, of course.
Ramirez remains the single most important player on the roster and the heart and soul of the team, make no mistake.
He has been far from a disaster, but there is no denying his start has been a bit slower than usual.
NEXT: Stephen Vogt Shuts Down Concerns About 2 Guardians Pitchers
