One of the best things about the Cleveland Guardians’ historic comeback against the Chicago White Sox to win the ALDS is that everyone gets to see what kind of player Jose Ramirez is. The third baseman is one of the most overlooked superstars in the game, and now he can prove it on baseball’s biggest stage.
Heading into the ALCS, which begins Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays are certainly aware of the threat Ramirez presents. They know if they are able to control him, they will have a very good chance of reaching the World Series.
Rays All-Star pitcher Drew Rasmussen, their Game 1 starter, has “one-of-a-kind” praise for Ramirez, calling him a top-10 player in the sport.
“It’s crazy that we can probably all acknowledge he’s a top 10 player in the entire world, and yet, I think he’s the most underrated player in all of baseball,” Rasmussen said. “He is a one-of-a-kind talent that definitely alarms go off when you’re going into starting your scouting.”
In the first two games of the ALDS, coming off his worst season in a decade, it looked like this just wasn’t going to be Ramirez’s year. He went 0-for-6 with three strikeouts, and Cleveland lost both at home to head on the road facing three straight elimination games.
Ramirez made sure the Guardians didn’t lose again. In Game 3, he gave himself and his team a spark with a double, a steal of third, and a run scored on a groundout, then hit a two-run triple in a 9-3 win.
In Game 4, he gave Cleveland the lead with a two-run homer on its way to a 9-5 victory. Then, in Game 5 back at Progressive Field, his two-run homer in the fourth inning was all the dominant Guardians pitchers would need in a 2-0, series-clinching win.
Ramirez had been criticized for failing to perform up to his standards in his recent postseason appearances, going 9-for-40 over the previous two years. Now, he looks ready to lead the Guardians back to the World Series for the first time since 2016 and to their first championship since 1948.
If he does, he could go down as the best player in Cleveland franchise history and one of the best major league players of his era.
NEXT: Guardians Announce Full ALCS Roster
