Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez hit the winning pitch in right field from Reds relief pitcher Emilio Pagan in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds today (9/26). With a three-pointer and the strong defense of terminator Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians ended up winning 5-2, sweeping the Redskins in this two-game series.
After receiving this victory, the Guardians not only consolidated the second seed in the American League, which is also the qualification for a bye in the first round of the playoffs (6 games behind the Houston Astros), plus today’s Yankees They lost to the Orioles again. Currently, they are only 0.5 games away from the Yankees, the first seed in the American League. They have a chance to overtake the Astros in the next series.
The previous season had just delivered the worst record since 2012, and Hall of Fame head coach Terry Francona announced his retirement. The pre-season victory rate was estimated to be around 50% at best. Almost no one was optimistic that they would have a chance to compete now. Best record in the American League.
This is not only due to the leadership of Emmanuel Clase, coupled with the super strong bullpen composed of Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin, the All-Star skills of Steven Kwan, Josh Naylor and David Fry, and how head coach Stephen Vogt can make the whole team work. In addition to unity, we cannot talk about the success of the Guardians this season without talking about their most important team leader-José Ramírez.
The 32-year-old J-Ram is not only one of the most senior hitters in this lineup, which has an average age of only 26.1 years and is the youngest in the league. He entered the major leagues in 2013 when they were still called the Indians. He is also the longest-serving player in the team after Carlos Carrasco.
Since he started getting more playing opportunities in 2014 and started to establish himself as a starter in 2015, Ramírez has been the most stable and low-key superstar in the major leagues. Since 2016, his OPS has reached at least .800 in every season. During this period, he accumulated the most slugging hits (616) in the league and the fourth-highest fWAR of 49.1. He led the Guardians to the playoffs five times, and in 2016 he was only one step away from leading the team to end the drought that had lasted since 1948. Championship drought.
In addition to today’s three-pointer from Pagan, Ramírez has posted .279/.334/.533 in 156 games this season, along with 38 doubles, 38 home runs, With 115 RBIs and 40 stolen bases, with three games left in the season, he has a good chance to become the third player in the past two years to join the only six players in history after Shohei Ohtani this season and Ronald Acuña Jr. last year. The “40 bombs and 40 thieves” club.
Before this season, only three players in the history of Cleveland had achieved “30 home goals and 30 steals” in a single season, namely Joe Carter in 1987, Grady Sizemore in 2008 and Ramírez in 2018. Ramírez not only became a defender He is the only player in history to achieve at least “30 homers and 30 steals” in a single season twice. It is also the fifth time in the history of the major leagues that a third baseman has achieved this rare achievement. Except for Ramírez, the previous time has been traced back to David in 2007. Wright, of course, and no player other than Ramírez has accomplished this feat twice.
Now Ramírez is expected to continue to advance this record and challenge to become the seventh player in the history of the major leagues with “40 homers and 40 steals”. In addition to Ohtani and Acuña, the other four are Jose Canseco in 1988 and Barry in 1996. Bonds, Alex Rodriguez in 1998 and Alfonso Soriano in 2006.
In addition to being expected to make history, Ramírez’s personal ranking in team history is also constantly advancing. This season, Ramírez has accumulated 242 stolen bases in his career, surpassing the 238 times of team legend Ray Chapman and ranking fifth in team history. According to his 12-season career, he averaged 19 stolen bases per year and 26 per 162 games. He has a good chance of challenging Omar Vizquel’s 279 stolen bases in the near future, ranking second in team history.
Considering that his contract will run until 2028, stolen bases are just one of his many statistics that he is expected to challenge. Including WAR (fourth in team history), hits (tenth in team history), doubles (sixth in team history), home runs (second in team history), RBIs (seventh in team history), etc., Ramírez will definitely have it in the future. Opportunity to continue advancing in the rankings in team history.