The Cleveland Guardians are, despite not really adding anyone at the trade deadline, playing their best ball of the season.
They are, as of Friday morning, just 1.5 games back from a postseason spot with a little less than two months to play.
Not only do they have a chance at making it to October, but they can also shock the world and take the AL Central if they keep their foot on the gas, since they have managed to significantly close the gap with the Detroit Tigers to six games.
As long as Jose Ramirez is healthy, Cleveland will have a fighting chance.
If that changes, well, the mountain could prove too high to climb.
Ramirez, at 32, remains one of the best players in baseball.
He certainly is the gold standard at third base, and the numbers don’t lie.
WAR Leaders – Third Base pic.twitter.com/l0bMnIJ3Kt
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) August 7, 2025
He comfortably leads the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranking at the hot corner with 4.9, with 1.1 more WAR than the second-placed Manny Machado (3.8).
No third baseman in baseball helps his team more than Ramirez, but then again, we didn’t need the numbers to know that’s true in this specific case.
Ramirez remains an all-around star and is showing no signs of slowing down.
He is slashing a powerful .296/.371/.520 with 23 home runs, 32 stolen bases, and a 140 wRC+, meaning he has produced 40 percent more than the league-average hitter in MLB.
That’s absolutely elite.
J-Ram has a very good chance of completing another 30-30 campaign, which would be his second in a row and third overall.
As long as he is playing like this, the Tigers should be very afraid of losing the top spot in the division.
Detroit is a very solid ballclub, but they don’t have a position player quite like Jose Ramirez.
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