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Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers on Monday by a final score of 2-1. Ramirez led the way with a home run and set a new Cleveland Baseball franchise record in the process. The Guardians third baseman’s long ball gave Cleveland the lead against Detroit, and Ramirez now holds the record for the most go-ahead home runs in franchise history, via Mandy Bell of MLB.com.
It was the 87th career go-ahead home run for Ramirez. He was previously tied with Cleveland Baseball legend Larry Doby for the franchise lead.
Larry Doby is a Hall of Famer. Surpassing any of his records is quite the accomplishment. Ramirez may be on a Hall of Fame path as well, as he is establishing himself as one of the best Guardians ever.
Ramirez has surprisingly struggled so far in 2024 amid the Guardians’ success. Cleveland leads the American League Central despite Ramirez’s slump and ace Shane Bieber’s injury. Outfielder Steven Kwan, who was off to a tremendous start to the season, also recently went down with an injury.
The Guardians still have confidence in the team. Triston McKenzie and Josh Naylor have led the way for Cleveland. If the Guardians want to make a serious playoff run, though, they will need Jose Ramirez to return to his All-Star form.
Will Guardians star Jose Ramirez get back on track?
Ramirez is a five-time All-Star. He’s made three consecutive All-Star teams as well.
Ramirez has also finished within the top 10 of MVP voting six times. He was second in the voting in 2020 and third in both 2017 and 2018.
In other words, Jose Ramirez is a superstar without question. So are we witnessing his decline or is he simply off to a slow start in 2024?
Ramirez is currently slashing .230/.278/.432/.710. He has hit seven home runs and recorded five stolen bases as well.
Ramirez is not hitting the ball quite as hard in 2024 as compared to other seasons. There is not a drastic difference, however. It isn’t as if he’s striking out much more either, as he currently has a strikeout percentage in 2024 that is lower than his career strikeout rate.
There are two major factors seemingly contributing to Ramirez’s struggles.
He is walking less in 2024. The Guardians star has walked at least 10 percent of the time or more over the past four years. In 2024, Ramirez is walking just six percent of the time, via Baseball Reference. As a result, his OBP (on-base percentage) has seen a massive decline thus far.
The other factor is out of Ramirez’s control for the most part. His BAbip (batting average on balls in play) is currently .214. For his career, Ramirez owns a .280 BAbip.
So the Guardians third baseman has been quite unlucky so far during the 2024 campaign.
Ramirez’s BAbip is going to increase. It would be shocking if he remained this unlucky all season long. Assuming Ramirez starts getting on base via walks at a more consistent rate once again, there is reason to believe he will bounce back soon.
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