At this point, it’s not much of a surprise to write that Jose Ramirez is having an MVP-quality season. He’s not a frontrunner in 2022 — not with the season Aaron Judge is having — but Ramirez is hitting .283/.353/.548 with 26 home runs, 14 steals, 38 doubles, four triples, 106 runs knocked in and anywhere from average to plus defense at the hot corner, depending of your metric of choice. He ranks 11th among Major League position players in wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, and seventh, per FanGraphs. It’s a Jose Ramirez season that’s so typical we’ve almost become numb to it.
It’s also, arguably, only the second-best season being enjoyed by a Guardians infielder.
Andres Gimenez can’t go to-to-toe with Ramirez’s power or his run-production numbers — particularly since he’s had 107 fewer plate appearances. I will freely admit that, in my view, Ramirez is having the better season, but there are arguments to the counter. Gimenez leads Ramirez in batting average and on-base percentage, has hit with surprising power, has surpassed him in steals and baserunning value (despite the lower total of plate appearances) and has graded out as one of baseball’s best defensive players, regardless of position. Baseball-Reference credits Gimenez with 5.4 wins above replacement — tied for the fifth-highest mark in the Majors among position players. FanGraphs “only” has him tied for 14th, at 4.7.
Whether Gimenez can sustain this output in future seasons is a far more pertinent debate for the Guardians than whether Gimenez or Ramirez has had the better season. Gimenez is, after all, just a season removed from hitting only .218/.282/.351 through 210 big league plate appearances. Entering the 2022 campaign, Gimenez had slashed just .235/.302/.369 in 117 career games — not exactly a resounding declaration he could be an impact big leaguer.
Those struggles came in Gimenez’s age-21 and age-22 seasons, however. It’s hardly uncommon for players that young to struggle with the transition to the majors, even if they’re former top prospects, which was very much the case with Gimenez. Originally signed by the Mets as an amateur out of Venezuela, Gimenez thrice ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at Baseball America and at Baseball Prospectus, also making multiple top-100 lists at MLB.com and FanGraphs. Gimenez’s defense and speed always garnered more praise than his bat, but he was projected as a potential everyday middle infielder. He was regarded highly enough to be one of the key pieces sent from New York to Cleveland in the trade that made Francisco Lindor a Met.
So, what’s changed for Gimenez in 2022? For starters, he’s simply making more contact. After punching out at a 24% clip in 2020-21, he’s down to 20.2% this season. His overall 73.3% contact rate from 2020-21 is up to 75% this season. Looking a bit deeper, he’s both slightly cut back on the rate at which he chases pitches off the plate and greatly increased his contact rate when he does chase. Gimenez struggled against lefties in 2021 but is hitting them at a .289/.352/.458 clip in 2022. It’s only 94 plate appearances, but it’s encouraging that Gimenez has actually fanned less often (17%) against lefties than against right-handers (21.2%).
The quality of contact made by Gimenez has markedly improved, too; he’s seen his line-drive rate rise nearly 10 percentage points, from 12.6% in 2021 to 22.3% in 2022. Gimenez also boasts a better than two mile-per-hour increase in his average exit velocity (88.4 mph, up from 86.3 mph in ’21) and a jump of nearly nine percentage points in his hard-hit rate (39.2%, up from 30.4%) this year. He’s more than doubled his rate of barreled balls, sitting at 7.4% after checking in at 3.6% a year ago.
Granted, those Statcast batted-ball ratings are still below the league average, and even Gimenez’s slightly improved 40.2% chase rate on pitches off the plate ranks among the highest levels in the league. There’s some clear work to be done for him to improve his overall approach, and his 2022 batting line wouldn’t look so rosy were it not for a .354 batting average on balls in play that he’s unlikely to sustain.
Even if his current production looks ripe for some regression, however, it’s hard not to be encouraged by all the positive strides in Gimenez’s game — both on a year-over-year basis and within the confines of the current season. Gimenez’s walk and strikeout rates were fairly dismal early in the season, for instance, sitting at 2% and 24.5%, respectively, through the end of April. Since Memorial Day weekend, he’s walked at a more passable 6.8% clip and logged an 18.6% strikeout rate. Ramirez’s hack-happy approach might always render him with a below-average walk rate, but if he can keep it around seven percent and also continue to put the ball in play at his current rate and with his current level of authority, he’ll be productive even as that aforementioned BABIP normalizes.
Barring the adoption of a more patient approach and/or further gains in terms of raw power, the 2022 campaign could very well represent something of a ceiling for Gimenez. Even if that’s the case, though, it’s quite the ceiling. He’s on pace to finish the year with six to seven wins above replacement, vastly above-average offense, plus baserunning marks and Gold Glove-caliber defense. Gimenez isn’t going to be considered a favorite or finalist in American League MVP voting, but he ought to get some down-ballot votes given just how strong his all-around performance has been.
It’s also possible that Gimenez will see his value to the team increase even further in future seasons, though not necessarily through his own doing. Scouting reports long touted him as a plus defender at either middle-infield spot, but he’s been limited to second base for most of his time in Cleveland thanks to the presence of Amed Rosario. While Rosario has improved his glovework at shortstop this year, he’s still received a mixed bag of defensive grades. Gimenez, meanwhile, has shined at shortstop, turning in marks of 7 Defensive Runs Saved, a 3.0 Ultimate Zone Rating and 8 Outs Above Average in just 634 career innings.
Rosario is due for his final arbitration raise this winter, and it’s feasible that the Guardians, with a bevy of middle-infield prospects and perennial payroll constraints, could look to trade Rosario rather than pay him a raise on this year’s $4.95MM salary. Doing so could open up shortstop for Gimenez, whose offense would be even more valuable at a position higher on the defensive spectrum, while subsequently opening second base for Tyler Freeman or another prospect.
Wherever his defensive home ultimately lies, Gimenez has used the 2022 season to cement himself as a viable big league contributor — not just a regular but an All-Star-caliber player who, at his best, could get some stray MVP votes. He’s controlled for another four seasons beyond the current year, won’t even reach arbitration eligibility until the 2023-24 offseason, and has yet to celebrate his 24th birthday. Ramirez is going to draw all the headlines in the Cleveland infield, but Gimenez has likely earned himself a long-term spot to draw some fanfare alongside his teammate.
About time people start taking notice of what Gimmy is doing
He made the All-Star team as a starter. Granted, he was replacing Altuve but still. I’d say people have taken notice.
Last I heard Gimenez also led the team in batting with RISP. Believe it was well over .400.
Cleveland also has 2 SS’s in the high minors that are highly regarded – Gabriel Arias (22 years old) and Brayan Rocchio (21 years old).
Yes, due to the weak AL Central the Guardians are in 1st place. But Terry Francona has had that team playing hard all season (with the exception of Franmil Reyes), and he’s a master of having his Cleveland teams peak during the stretch run. He’s like the good football coaches that see what plays can work during the game, withholds them, works to keep the team in the game, and then goes to them in 4th quarter when the opposition doesn’t have time to make adjustments.
Cleveland, Seattle, and Baltimore are the coming AL teams and should be contenders for at least the next 5 years.
Projecting over the long haul, considering Gimenez is only 23, it’s looking like it was a good trade for the Guardians. Comparing to Lindor, whose OPS+ was 116 when he was 23. Gimenez’s OPS+ is 144. Time will tell of course.
One of the few traded in baseball that is working out for both teams.
Thanks for this excellent article about an All-Star player that is too often overlooked. I hope he’ll be with CLE for a long time.
NYM certainly got a great talent in Lindor but boy did they pay a price to get him.
I hear ya. The way I see it, if you are a top 10 talent in the game then you are gonna have to pay a top 10 price. Don’t get to see much of him in SoCal but he is a great a player.
My pal A. Rendon was a top 10 talent about a year ago but I’m pretty sure in retrospect he is placing at a top 20 tops now. Maybe.
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I think you forgot a zero or two. So sad what injuries have done to him.
I thumbs up at the Mets and the Indians for this trade
Thankfully, the Mets an inferior SS.
*have
great stuff.
good read.
Guardians look really well going forward. possibly the best they have ever looked with 3rd best farm system, youngest good team in mlb.
jram is staying. let’s fkn go!
I remember an older guy calling into the local
bay sports radio shows who was upset after the Lindor trade bc he felt they gave up a potentially better player in Gimenez and they didn’t have to do that with the SS crop coming up in free agency AND trade away prospects.
Playing captain hindsight if the Mets could’ve held onto Gimenez and signed Lindor it would have been a scary good IF.
The Mets felt they were getting to buy low a bit on Lindor. The asking price for him had probably been much higher in previous years, and based on when the trade happened it was probably a case of “well, we gotta take this since it’s the best offer.” So Cleveland had already felt it was selling low to take the deal.
I also imagine the Mets might have thought with Lindor at SS and McNeil at 2B, maybe Gimenez wouldn’t have had a spot for sure.
Why is MLBTR talking about this? He’s clearly not a trade candidate and an extension seems pretty unlikely with how far away he is from arb. Is this an audition for Fangraphs?
This is yet another savvy move by the Cleveland front office. Out of all the low budget MLB teams, Cleveland is the best at trading established, veteran players at the right time and for the right return. They have proven this time and time again. They trade players set to get large salary increases via arbitration or contractual obligations for younger players who are major league ready and can be controlled for 5-6 seasons. They rarely miss on these players. Someone like Cal Quantril looked like a rare potential miss at first but he has proven that was indeed a smart move for Cleveland. Quantril is now starting to get expensive so he may the next one to be traded for their next promising rookie. They couple this with great drafting, consistent coaching throughout their whole system and the cherry on top is their exceptional manager (Francona) who knows how to build confidence in these kids and get maximum production out of them. It’s quite impressive what they do every year and it was awesome to see them sign J-Ram to an extension too. That was out of character for them, but shows some hope that for special players they will make an exception (could Bieber be next?)
So long as they continue to draft well and player development continues to excel, Cleveland can ride this system for many more years and many more playoff appearances. Well done!
All true…..
But where were you when the Lindor, Clevinger, and other trades were made as posters on here were complaining abut how “cheap” the owner was for not shelling out multi hundred-million-dollar contracts for those payers? (Only kidding.)
You might also note that almost every year Cleveland has an excellent and deep bullpen, yet they never trade for established relievers as fans usually want their teams to do.
Everything in MLB is about teams developing players they have under contract. At the major league level. How do the Orioles have so many fine starting and relief pitchers this year when almost none of them were drafted by them, considered top prospects or name pitchers when they acquired them? Where did all those pitchers the Mariners have come from? Why do the Rays compete every year? How come the Astros constantly come up with cornerstone players from their farm system that never made the Top 100 lists? Why do players that long ago hit a wall put on a Dodgers uni and magically perform well? And most importantly – why do fans that look at the statistics of players not understand that those stats are what a player did, and not what he’ll do…..and for every fan that says: “the advanced stats showed this (decline or improvement) was coming”, a reader can take that formula they say is obvious and apply it to numerous players that fir the same pattern yet nothing of the sort happened with them. MLB today is all about coaching up the players…..and keeping them coached up (and getting players under contract that can be coached up).
You know the drill by now. Half the fans (and half the writers) judge a trade by who got the biggest name. Even now, with Gimenez becoming more well-known, fans still don’t mention Rosario (3.1 bWAR & hopefully with the RS next year), or Greene & Wolf, who are viable prospects.
Yep, and most of 5he other half lack patience even if they know better.
The Guardians caught a good amount of flak for trading away their stars once they became too expensive, but it’s actually worked out incredibly well for them. The Lindor, Clevinger, Kluber trades all look absolutely genius at this point. I expect the team to take a big step forward next season along with the Orioles, as they both already have some solid talent and depth on their MLB rosters, and have tons of good prospects due to graduate to the majors in the next year or two. The O’s and Guardians are two teams that will go down as shining examples of a rebuild done right.