Jose Ramirez debuted for the Cleveland Indians on September 1, 2013 at the age of 20. I remember thinking to myself, “whoa, who’s this kid running around looking like he’s ready to run through a brick wall any second?”
Maybe it was because he was only 20. Maybe it’s due to the fact he was a little bit of a low profile signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2009 after he had just turned 17. All I knew back then was this kid soared through the farm system, caught my eye immediately and I was excited to see him grow in the future.
Ramirez appeared in 15 games while only totaling 12 at-bats in September of 2013 but he gained a good sense of the Major League level as he was part of a team that went on to reach the postseason.
After a solid 2014 campaign while he was with the Tribe (appearing in 68 games), last season he earned the starting shortstop position out of spring training as the club felt Francisco Lindor could use a little more seasoning in the minors (or they wanted to gain some extra years of control with him, but who knows).
Ramirez really struggled to begin the season committing eight errors in 46 games at short after making only four such mistakes in 56 games during the 2014 season.
It could have been a product of Ramirez looking over his shoulder knowing Lindor was waiting in the wings but he got off to a horrendous start at the plate too before Lindor took over the shortstop duties by June and Ramirez was sent to Columbus.
Here we are now in 2016 and Ramirez has given the Tribe a super-utility guy that’s capable of playing any position on the field if need be aside from pitcher and catcher (and maybe first). So far this year he has started or played parts of 20 games in the outfield (some left, some center), 20 at third, while getting limited action at second and short.
After an up and down road to an everyday gig in the big leagues Ramirez looks like he may have developed himself into just that, an everyday player, and the growth has been fun to watch.
Through the first 43 games of 2016, Ramirez has appeared in 37 and is second on the club in hitting trailing only Lindor with a slash of .293/.343/.439, way above his career averages. The switch hitting 23 year-old has tallied 36 hits with nine doubles, three homers and has knocked in 18.
Coming into the season it was a bit of an unknown as to how Ramirez would play defensively in the outfield. He was brought on by the team in 2009 as a shortstop before transitioning over the second with Lindor in the system.
While his routes have some room for improvement, for the most part he has played a solid left field in the absence of Michael Brantley only making one error in 34 chances. His strong arm has also transitioned nicely to the outfield.
With his ability to play multiple positions in the field along with his combination of contact rate (fifth in the AL with 9.5 AB per SO) and speed on the base-paths, Ramirez has turned himself into the kind of player every Major League team covets.
In the process he has put Tribe skipper Terry Francona in a postion where it’s hard not to play the kid. The Indians brought in outfielders Rajai Davis and Marlon Bryd in the offseason to help what looked like a depleted outfield but Ramirez has been so productive he has seen time over both of the veterans at points.
Where things get interesting is when you start thinking about the return of Brantley. When healthy nobody is playing left field over the 2014 All-Star. Does this mean Ramirez will see more time at third over first year Indian Juan Uribe who’s been struggling with the bat?
Time will tell what his role will be once Brantley is ready but if he keeps up this type of play, he’ll have play a role for the Tribe one way or another.
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