Welcome back to the Guardians Beat newsletter. My name is Tim Stebbins, and this is my first season covering Cleveland for MLB.com. |
CHICAGO -- Chris Antonetti sat down to meet the media earlier this season, at a point when José Ramírez was in the middle of one of his patented stretches of excellence. Before Antonetti, the Guardians' president of baseball operations, took questions from the assembled group of reporters, he flipped the script.
“Before you ask me, I'm going to ask you,” Antonetti said, smiling. “Because I'm guessing you're going to ask me something about José Ramírez, and I'm running out of ways to describe him. So, if you guys have any ways to describe Hosey that we’ve missed, I’d love to hear it.”
Antonetti stumped the media that day; it can be challenging to find unique ways to describe Ramírez, though Wednesday brought forth an updated adjective to add to the list: seven-time All-Star. |
Ramírez has been voted the American League’s starting third baseman for the 2025 Midsummer Classic, which is set for July 15 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.
“I’m very happy,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero before Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. “I’m very thankful to God for another opportunity and also thankful for the fans who voted for me.”
This is the Ramírez’s seventh career nod and his fourth as a starter -- a pair of accolades that has the 32-year-old in elite company in the storied annals of Cleveland baseball. He is now tied with Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Ken Keltner and Bob Lemon for the second-most All-Star berths in Cleveland franchise history, and he is one short of tying the franchise record held by Hall of Famer Bob Feller.
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Ramírez is also the first Cleveland player to earn four fan-elected starting nods (2017, ’18 and ’24), breaking a tie with Sandy Alomar Jr. and Kenny Lofton. He will join Guardians manager Stephen Vogt in Atlanta; Vogt accepted Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s invitation to be on the AL coaching staff. Steven Kwan (who was a finalist to start for the AL) also could be named an AL reserve Sunday. Ramírez has been his typically stellar self this season. Through Saturday, he is slashing .300/.362/.489 with 16 doubles, 14 homers, 39 RBIs and 22 stolen bases over 84 games, and he had recorded 3.2 WAR (per FanGraphs), first among third basemen.
From April 30-June 14, Ramírez carried a 39-game on-base streak, the longest of his career. That stretch included a 21-game hitting streak (May 6-28), which also marked a career long for Ramírez. |
Ramírez, for what it’s worth, has not been satisfied by what he’s done so far this season.
“That’s why I appreciate the fans’ vote,” he said. “It actually hasn’t been the type of year that I wanted to have, what I worked for. I feel it's more credit to the fans that voted for me to be there. But particularly, I wish I had a different performance or a better performance this year.” Asked what he thinks he could have done better this year, Ramírez said in Spanish “todo” four times -- which translates to “everything.”
And his own 2025 season assessment notwithstanding, the All-Star nod is just the latest accolade in what has been another standout season. On April 21, he passed Tris Speaker for second most extra-base hits in franchise history (689); Earl Averill (725) ranks first. On May 1, Ramírez became the first player in Cleveland franchise history to hit 250 homers and steal 250 bases. |
On Wednesday, Ramírez moved into fourth place on Cleveland’s all-time games played list with 1,531. He capped off the night by hitting a walk-off single to beat the Blue Jays. “He’s the best all-around third baseman in baseball,” Vogt said. “He's one of the top five players, in my opinion. Hosey exemplifies what it means to be a professional baseball player on the field, and he plays the game the right way. I'm just thankful I get to watch him do it every day.”
And once more, Ramírez’s excellence will be on display for the whole baseball world to see. |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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As Gavin Williams walked off the mound after the second inning on Tuesday, he didn’t know what to think. He faced six batters, and they all reached base. He allowed three runs. He got through it about as unconventionally as he could. Cleveland recorded three non-plate-appearance outs in one inning for the first time since at least 1920. Williams, meanwhile, became the first Cleveland pitcher to record two pickoffs in an inning since Steve Gromek on July 18, 1945. “‘What just happened?’” Williams recalled thinking. “I didn’t know what to think about that.” Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch singled to start the second. Carson Kelly hit an RBI double and advanced to third on an errant relay throw by second baseman Angel Martínez. Kelly tried to score on a wild pitch moments later, but catcher Bo Naylor retrieved the ball and fed Williams for the first out.
Williams walked Nico Hoerner on five pitches and picked him off after falling into a 3-0 count vs. Matt Shaw. Shaw walked on the next pitch. Williams then fell behind Ian Happ, 2-1, and he picked Shaw off.
The Guardians entered Saturday with nine pickoffs this season, tied for fourth in the Majors with the Braves and Orioles. “We start it from Spring Training, just working on [pickoffs] every day,” Williams said. “...The more we practice, the more chances it can happen. …I know in the back of my head, as soon as they get to a certain place on the dirt, I can most likely get them.” |
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• Who will the Guardians select with the No. 27 pick in the MLB Draft next Sunday? MLB.com's Jim Callis dives in, in his latest mock draft. Read more >> • With his June setback in the rearview mirror, here’s where Shane Bieber is at in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. Read more >> |
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