Two years ago, fivethirtyeight.com ran a story on Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, calling him baseball’s least appreciated superstar.
Two years later, that remains true. But if Ramirez and the Guardians keep winning games at the stunning clip they’re winning them at this summer, he might become a whole lot more appreciated outside of northeast Ohio.
The American League doesn’t lack legitimate Most Valuable Player candidates.
Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson might hit 50 homers. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge will probably hit 50 homers. Yankees teammate Juan Soto is an on-base machine of the highest order.
So, where does that leave Ramirez?
In the same place he’s been most of the last nine years—killing people under the radar as this generation’s version of Eddie Murray.
Unless you have a raging case of recency bias, you might remember Murray as one of the most consistent players for about 20 years. Whether he was playing in Baltimore, Los Angeles or New York, he was cranking homers from both sides of the plate and putting up metronomic numbers year after year.
The only time Murray ever led his league in homers and RBI was the strike year of 1981. But in a 21-year career, he clouted at least 20 homers 15 times and drove in at least 84 runs in 15 of his first 16 years. His career average was a solid .287.
That brings us to Ramirez, who, since he became a regular in 2016, has performed a pretty good Murray impression. His career batting average of .279 is a small tick behind Murray, but his 162-game averages of 28 homers and 97 RBI fit the bill of a consistent run producer.
“No matter if he’s getting hits or not, he’s the same guy every day,” said first-year Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt earlier this season of Ramirez. “Going out there with the same mindset, same approach… just continues to hit the ball hard.”
For good measure, Ramirez offers the ability to steal bases. He’s nabbed as many as 34 in 2017, when he also cracked 39 homers, and has been above 20 at least six times. With 15 near this season’s midway point, he could get to 30 for the second time in his career.
Then there’s his above-average defense and his ability to go to the post every day. In 2022, he played the season’s second half and two playoff series with a torn ligament in his right thumb. He still finished with 29 homers and 126 RBI; only Aaron Judge knocked in more runs.
“Jose is so good,” said former Guardians manager Terry Francona last spring. “I’ve seen him have fast starts and slow starts. But when it’s over, he’s in the top five (of MVP voting). He’s one of the best baseball players in the game.
“He checks off every box there is.”
Cleveland is playing like a team that intends to hang around October for a while. Even after Friday night’s 10-3 loss in Kansas City, it owns a comfortable 6 ½-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central. Its plus-104 run differential is better than every team in the league except Baltimore.
Ramirez, who’s on pace to knock in close to 150 runs, is the biggest reason why. If he duplicates his first half in the second half, a generation of baseball fans might have three more letters to put in front of his name.
MVP.
