The Ramírez File
Team: Cleveland Guardians
Height: 5-9
Weight: 190
Birthday: 9/17/1992
Average Exit Velo: 87.7 mph
College: N/A
Draft: N/A
Contract: 7 years, $142 million
WAG: Yes, wife's name unknown
Children: Bella Ramírez
Betting Odds: +8000 to lead the league in hits, +1600 to win AL MVP, +3300 to lead the league in steals, +2000 to lead the league in RBI
Record/Accomplishments
- Four All-Star selections, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022
- Member of the All-MLB Second Team, 2020
- Four Silver Slugger awards, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022
- Member of the 30-30 club, 2018
What makes José Ramírez special?
Baseball truly is a beautiful game. Virtually any kid of any size can find a role somewhere on the diamond. A good example of this is Cleveland Guardians superstar José Ramírez.
Ramírez wasn’t some highly-touted international free agent phenom that we see hail from the Dominican Republic. He was a replacement player, and he looked like one, too. One Cleveland official, in an interview with GuardsPost, had the following to say.
“Jose was a small, stocky kid at second base,” he began. “He didn’t look like a ballplayer. He wasn’t fluid. He didn’t have a great arm. He didn’t look that fast.”
Not exactly inspiring words to hear about a kid about to enter the most difficult professional sport in America.
Yet, he persevered, in part due to his between the lines skills and his replacement player history. Filling in for “better” players elsewhere made him a versatile threat for Cleveland to deploy virtually anywhere they needed without too much of a defensive drop off. He’s also an incredible base runner and base stealer, especially for someone without great speed.
He’s proof that the little things matter, perhaps more so when you’re the little man on campus.