The Cleveland Guardians are red-hot, leading the AL Central division with a 33-17 record and playing some high-quality baseball at the moment.
They have beaten good and bad teams, they have overcome injuries to their pitching staff and lineup, and they are playing under a rookie manager.
Still, far from crumbling, they have thrived and risen to the challenge.
Oh, and they have accumulated that spectacular record even with their best player, Jose Ramirez, still not performing to the best of his abilities.
For the season, J-Ram boasts a .258 batting average and a .799 OPS.
While not disastrous, those numbers pale in comparison to his career marks of .278 and .852, respectively.
Still, they are mostly associated with the beginning of the season and the first month.
In reality, Ramirez has been performing at his usual stellar pace for a few weeks now and the numbers prove it.
What a stretch for Jose Ramirez!#Guardians | #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/TG1MuxORxL
— Cleveland Baseball Insider (@CBI_FanNation) May 23, 2024
Cleveland Baseball Insider posted a graphic with Ramirez’s numbers since May 7.
Since that day, his batting average is a healthy .322, with a .365 OBP and a brilliant .644 slugging percentage.
He also has five home runs and 17 RBI over that stretch, carrying the team on his shoulders.
Earlier in the season, Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan did the heavy lifting offensively.
Now that Ramirez is finally hot at the plate, he has taken over as the most prolific run producer in the lineup.
As long as Ramirez is healthy and hitting like this, the Guards just won’t lose too many games.
Their pitching staff is too good for that to happen, but having Ramirez playing like his 2017-2022 self clearly helps.
NEXT: Guardians Reveal Just How Dominant David Fry Has Been In May
