MINNEAPOLIS - Stephen Vogt isn’t blinking on Jose Ramirez.
Even with Ramirez fighting through the effects of a surgically repaired left hand and a batting average that keeps sliding, the Guardians manager has no interest in dropping him down the order. If anything, Vogt nudged him up for Saturday’s game against the Twins and left-hander Connor Prielipp, moving Ramirez from third to second because he likes how the switch-hitter handles lefties.
“Absolutely not,” Vogt said when asked about moving Ramirez lower in the lineup. “Jose belongs right where he is in that two or three spot. We go as he goes.
“He’s really close. We’ve seen it.
He’ll have stretches where he hits the ball hard, gets on base and does his thing. He’s had a couple games lately where it hasn’t gone his way.”
The stance matters because the calendar is shrinking fast. Cleveland has 14 games left, sits a half-game behind the first-place White Sox in the AL Central, and holds a two-game cushion over Toronto for the third wild card spot. If Vogt were going to make a lineup change with Ramirez, the moment has already passed.
Ramirez, of course, has built a career on being the kind of player who doesn’t need much help. When he’s at his best, he can run, hit for average, drive the ball, throw and defend at a high level. But the surgery changed the picture.
He had a broken hamate bone removed during an operation on June 16 and didn’t get back into the lineup until July 22. Since then, the numbers have been quiet: .219 with one home run and 15 RBI in 41 games. On Friday night in Cleveland’s 5-2 win over the Twins, he went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.
That’s where the rest of the lineup has stepped in.
Rookie Travis Bazzana kept the pressure on Friday, going 2 for 2, reaching base four straight times and scoring on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to snap a 2-2 tie. Angel Martinez, Ramirez’s locker-room neighbor at Progressive Field, added the big swing with a two-run homer in the seventh and then pushed Bazzana from first to third in the ninth with a line-drive double to right.
Bazzana is starting to look like a rookie who has found his timing at exactly the right stretch. He entered Saturday hitting .340 (18 for 53) over his last 17 games, with two doubles, two homers and a team-high 14 RBI in that span.
Martinez has been just as steady. In his second full season, he’s hitting .311 (32 for 103) since Aug. 1 with eight doubles, four homers and 19 RBI. The switch-hitter leads the team with 15 homers.
Chase DeLauter has also chipped in, even while dealing with left hamstring and right wrist injuries that have made it hard to stay in the lineup. In a career-high 122 games, he’s hitting .293 with 28 doubles, three triples, 14 homers and a team-high 62 RBI.
Over his last 21 games, he’s hitting .375 with 11 extra-base hits. His .293 average ranks fourth in the AL.
And there’s more behind them. Steven Kwan, now a veteran presence on the roster, is hitting .351 with 10 doubles since the All-Star break. At the bottom, Brayan Rocchio has been doing damage from the No. 9 spot, leading the big leagues with nine homers and 45 RBI from that position.
Cleveland also got a boost from the deadline, adding veterans Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe. Since the trade, Adell has 24 RBI and Lowe has five homers and 19 RBI.
“We have a very deep team,” Vogt said. “That’s the beauty of it.
Jose has carried this team for 10 years. It’s really fun to see other guys get an opportunity to step up and do it.
“Again, Jose makes an impact whether he gets on base or not. The opposition has to navigate him four or five times a night. I’m sure if you talk to any team across the way, they’d rather not have him in there.
“Jose is right where he needs to be. I’m sure he’s going to get it rolling.”
In Other News...
Guardians Face One Offseason Rotation Decision Fans Will Debate
Cleveland has spent this season leaning on a rotation that has stayed remarkably steady, with young arms like Parker Messick, Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo and Tanner Bibee giving the club a clear base to work from. Even as the Guardians have built around that group, the offseason conversation is already starting to circle one familiar name: Shane Bieber, who is now a free agent after injury struggles and limited starts with the Toronto Blue Jays.
A return to Cleveland would carry obvious appeal on paper, especially for a pitcher who once helped define the staff, but the expectation around the league is that the Guardians will largely keep the current rotation intact going into next season. Foster Griffins status adds another layer to watch, though the bigger question for fans is whether the organization sees any reason to reopen a spot for Bieber or simply move ahead with the young core it has already put in place. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Have Unlocked More In Craig Yoho Than Milwaukee Did
Craig Yoho has looked like a different reliever since landing with Cleveland in the trade from Milwaukee, and the early returns suggest the Guardians may have found something the Brewers did not fully tap into. In his last 14 innings, he has worked to a 1.29 ERA with 20 strikeouts and just three walks, a run of effectiveness that has fit neatly into the middle-leverage spots Cleveland has been willing to give him.
A big part of the jump appears to be an adjusted pitching approach, especially a heavier dose of his changeup. For a bullpen that always values usable weapons it can trust in the middle innings, Yohos growth is the kind of quiet development that can matter over a long season, even if the full payoff of this version of him is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Which Guardians Hitter Fans Trust Most In Walk Off Spots
Close games have become part of the Guardians daily routine, and the latest reminder came in a series that featured three walk-off victories. For a team that keeps finding itself in those tight, late-inning spots, the question naturally shifts from whether it will have another chance to who should be at the plate when it comes. The answer depends on more than just a big swing, because recent performance, past walk-off experience and each hitters role all matter when the game gets to that final at-bat.
The ranking of current Guardians hitters starts with the players fans have already seen handle pressure, then works through the bats most likely to be involved when the game is on the line. Some names bring a history of coming through in walk-off situations, while others earn trust because theyre the ones most likely to be in those moments regardless of matchup. In a season built around so many one-run decisions, the order of confidence in that spot says as much about the clubs identity as any single late hit. [Read more 🡒]