Baseball is the most beautiful game there is. However, it can be weird and make little sense, too.
For the better part of the last 10 years, Jose Ramirez has been the best player on the Cleveland Guardians. He has competed for the AL MVP, won the Silver Slugger Award, and established himself as a future Hall of Fame candidate. He is, quite simply, an icon in the city.
Yet, ever since he returned from his hamate bone injury, his team has done nothing but lose. It’s baffling and hard to explain, and it probably doesn’t have anything to do with his performance, but the Guardians still haven’t won since he made it back.
Ramirez remains a top player even if he isn’t having his finest year at the plate. He is hitting a solid, if unspectacular .236/.335/.405, but is bound to get hot any time now. He also has 10 home runs and 24 stolen bases, contributing on defense, on the basepaths, and being one of the leaders in the clubhouse.
Even if his 106 wRC+ so far isn’t close to his career 129 mark, nothing he has done since returning has directly contributed to Cleveland losing. It has just been a rough stretch of games, three of them against the best team in the American League.
Don’t be surprised if the Guardians go on a nice run as Ramirez gets up to speed and regains his timing at the plate. He remains a dangerous hitter even at 33, and might just need a few more at-bats to find his best version. Remember that hamate bone surgeries tend to sap a batter’s power for a few weeks.
Baseball can be misleading sometimes, but make no mistake: just because we have been fooled by a very small five-game sample in which Cleveland has lost every game since Ramirez’s return doesn’t mean that the trend will continue.
In fact, we have every reason to believe that as long as Ramirez can return to his best version or something close to it, the Guardians will start winning significantly more games than they lose.
NEXT: Guardians Add Valuable Draft Asset After Contract Disagreement
