José Ramírez spent the first two games looking out of sorts, limited by a hand injury and stuck in a stretch where the hits just weren’t coming. Then he flipped the script in Chicago and, in the process, forced a bigger conversation about what his October résumé might become.
Two straight standout performances turned Ramírez from a quiet presence into the center of Cleveland’s push to keep its season alive. In the process, he moved into rare company in franchise postseason history and reminded everyone exactly why the Guardians lean on him when the lights get bright.
“He looks like the José Ramírez that this team is counted on and relied on and who has driven this team for so many years now,” said Joe Noga on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. “He nothing like what he had looked like since the hand injury and the surgery.”
The biggest swing came in Game 4, when Ramírez met Jordan Hicks’ triple-digit fastball and didn’t budge. Paul Hoynes called it “the hardest ball he’s ever hit for a home run” in the Statcast era - a shot to right-center off a 100 mph pitch that left the bat at 99.9 mph. It was the kind of swing that doesn’t just show up in a box score; it changes the feel of a game.
Noga said the early criticism may have lit a fire under him. “He heard all the people talking about how much he had to show up after ghosting them basically in the first two games of the series. You know that drives him.”
Now Ramírez has five postseason home runs and 43 career postseason hits, tying Jim Thome for third on Cleveland’s all-time postseason list. For a player who has spent years at the center of the franchise, that’s a notable line on a résumé that keeps growing.
Hoynes also raised the larger question that comes with this kind of run: whether this is the start of a signature October. “Is he seeing that this is his chance maybe to have one big unforgettable postseason, and is this the start of it? If they can extend this and get to the ALCS, can he do more damage?”
That’s where Ramírez has put himself after two games in Chicago. The Guardians needed him to wake up, and he did more than that. He delivered the kind of back-to-back performances that can tilt a series and reshape how a player is remembered in October.
Patrick Bailey’s pinch-hit home run may have sparked Game 4, but Ramírez supplied the swing that felt like the night’s defining moment. He has a habit of doing that. And with one game left to reach the ALCS, Cleveland is counting on him to do it again.
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Guardians Suddenly Look Dangerous Thanks To One Deadline Gamble
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Jo Adell, brought in as a recent deadline addition, has been right in the middle of it, giving Cleveland a jolt that has changed the feel of the lineup over just two games. His arrival now looks like the kind of move that can reshape October, and the Guardians will carry that new edge into the next game with a chance to finish the job. [Read more 🡒]
Jose Ramirez May Have Just Saved Cleveland At The Perfect Time
Jose Ramirez has spent much of the season searching for the version of himself Cleveland has leaned on for years, and in Game 4 of the ALDS he finally gave the Guardians a reminder of why he matters so much in October. After working through pain since hamate bone surgery and enduring a difficult offensive stretch, Ramirez kept showing signs of life across the first two playoff games and then added another jolt in a 9-5 win over the White Sox.
The biggest swing came in the fifth inning, when his two-run homer flipped the game and helped Cleveland protect its season for at least one more night. With the series now headed to a decisive Game 5 at Progressive Field, the Guardians suddenly have reason to believe Ramirez may be heating up at exactly the right time, and that changes the feel of everything around them. [Read more 🡒]