The second half will start on Friday for the Cleveland Guardians, when they face the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field. They finished the first one with a 51-46 record, tied with the Chicago White Sox at the top of the AL Central.
It goes without saying that the Guardians have to be at their best in the second half if they want to capture their third straight division title and, more importantly, if they want to make a deep postseason run. Team insider Tim Stebbins took a long look at where the team stands right now, which players will make it back from the injured list soon, and which positions they need to upgrade ahead of the deadline.
He also discussed the Guardians’ key player for the second half. It’s none other than Jose Ramirez, as the state of his wrist will likely make or break Cleveland’s year.
“Key player for the second half: José Ramírez,” Stebbins wrote. “No surprise here. Ramírez has advanced into a hitting progression in his rehab from surgery, and it may not be long before he begins a rehab assignment. For as much as Cleveland has done well treading water without the 33-year-old, it’s eagerly awaiting his return. The Guardians’ lineup is on a higher level with the presence of its superstar third baseman in the middle of the order.”
As Stebbins suggests, the Guardians have barely managed to stay afloat while their best player is gone. They had a rough June with a 10-15 record, but July has looked better, at 7-4. Things, however, could be much better once Ramirez returns. Evidently, the offense has struggled without him.
He is closing in on a rehab assignment, but will need several games in the minor leagues to regain his stroke and rhythm at the plate. Even when he’s deemed healthy enough to be reinserted in the Guardians’ lineup, there are no guarantees that he will go back to being the player he was in 2016-2025.
This year, he was having an OK performance, but nothing more. He hit .239/.339/.418 with a 110 wRC+, which is significantly lower than the lofty standards he set for himself. He also hit 10 homers and stole 24 bases.
Even that version of Ramirez would significantly help a Guardians lineup that is screaming for above-average hitters, but we know that he can be much better than that. If he can return to play on a 40-40 pace with a wRC+ in the 130s, as he usually does, Cleveland would be very hard to stop.
NEXT: Brayan Rocchio Quietly Leads Guardians In Key Stat
