Steven Kwan has been part of this Cleveland organization long enough to know exactly what Jose Ramirez means to everything that happens inside that clubhouse. When he spoke about the hamate fracture recently, he did not pretend the loss was anything other than what it is. He also made clear that the response cannot be anything other than what it has always been.
“He’s been our dog, and someone’s gonna have to step up. But we still have a brand of baseball that doesn’t rely on one person, so I think we just have to continue that. I think it’s making sure people aren’t trying harder. That’s all you can control. When you lose the top guy, it’s hard. But you can’t reinvent the wheel at the same time, either,” Kwan said.
Kwan knows what it looks like when Ramirez walks through the door every morning and sets the standard before a single pitch has been thrown.
The second part of what Kwan said is the part that matters most. Someone is going to have to step up, but the brand of baseball Cleveland plays does not live or die on any single contributor. The pitching depth, the positional flexibility, the roster layers that allowed Stephen Vogt to shuffle five players into multiple positions on Saturday and still beat Tarik Skubal, all of that exists because of the philosophy that the organization is built on.
The Guardians are 39-33, in a virtual tie for first place in the AL Central, and still in possession of one of the best pitching staffs in the American League. Tanner Bibee has a 1.20 ERA over his last two starts. Cade Smith has 23 saves. Brayan Rocchio is batting .274 with a 112 OPS+. The infrastructure is intact.
Kwan has been through enough with this organization to know what holds up under pressure. He said it with the quiet confidence of someone who believes in exactly what he is saying.
Someone is going to have to step up. The wheel stays the same.
NEXT: Jose Ramirez Makes A Vow To Guardians Teammates Amid Injury
