March 30: Ramirez remains day-to-day and is out of the lineup today, as Vogt told reporters (including Tim Stebbins of MLB.com) this afternoon. Vogt added that Ramirez is available to pinch-hit today and that the club hopes he’ll be back in the lineup on Monday in San Diego.
March 29: Star third baseman Jose Ramirez exited the Guardians’ game against the Royals in the sixth inning today due to what the Guardians later announced was a right wrist sprain. The 32-year-old appeared to sustain the injury after landing awkwardly during a headfirst slide in the third inning as he attempted to steal second base. As noted by Zack Meisel of The Athletic, manager Stephen Vogt suggested that Ramirez is day-to-day after the game.
The news is a potentially brutal blow to Cleveland’s hopes of building on a strong 2023 season where they earned a bye through the Wild Card round of the playoffs and made it to the ALCS. Ramirez, of course, was a key part of not only that playoff run but every playoff run the club has made since he completed his first full season in the majors back in 2016. Since then, Ramirez has received votes for the AL MVP award in every season except for 2019 while finishing in the top 5 for the award five times. He’s made six All-Star appearances and slashed an incredible .284/.358/.522 during that time with 340 doubles, 247 home runs, and 223 stolen bases all while playing solid defense at third base.
The switch-hitter is among the game’s most consistently excellent players, even among his fellow stars. Part of that consistency has been thanks to his exceptional durability. Ramirez has appeared in at least 152 games and stepped up to the plate at least 618 times in every 162-game campaign since his first full season as a big leaguer besides his 129-game 2019 season, but today’s injury risks putting another asterisk on that lengthy track record. Fortunately, Vogt seemed to indicate that the club’s current expectation is that he won’t miss significant time due to the issue.
“He’s day-to-day,” the manager said, as relayed by Meisel. “We’re going to see how he feels in the morning. It’s early in the year. But I think I’m gonna have to hold him down to keep him out of there.”
There’s no replacing a player of Ramirez’s caliber for any club, but the Guardians are particularly lacking in depth on the infield dirt after trading utility man Tyler Freeman to the Rockies to re-acquire outfielder Nolan Jones just before Opening Day. Gabriel Arias handled third base in Ramirez’s today and could be tasked with covering for the club’s star in the event he misses time, but Arias was already ticketed for at least semi-regular reps at second base this year. Daniel Schneemann played at the keystone today and could slot in if Ramirez misses only a short period of time, but if a trip to the injured list opens up a roster spot the club could instead turn to infield prospect Juan Brito, who posted strong numbers at Triple-A last year but has not yet made his major league debut.
What an interesting way of saying they won the division.
“they earned a bye through the Wild Card round of the playoffs“
Especially in the ‘2023’ season
Pain
One more good JRam season away from being a lock for the Hall.
I wonder if jones will see time at third in Jose’s absence?
I doubt it. He’s pretty much exclusively an outfielder now.
I’d imagine it’ll be some combination of Schneemann and Arias in the meantime, depending on matchups. (They face a righty tomorrow, so Schneemann will probably start.)
If he’s just day to day then he won’t need an IL stint, but if something changes and they need to call someone up, it would probably be Angel Martinez.
Its been a while since Jones was a regular at 3B, so that would seem unlikely. I would think Arias slides to 3B and then Schneemann to 2B. Depending on the severity, Angel Martinez might get the call for a bench spot.
Not only has it been a while, all the scouting reports read “he can’t really do this.”
Alec Bohm made it out the other side of the same scouting report, but it takes years of effort that Jones hasn’t spent.
I don’t know if some paragraphs were edited later than others were, but it’s weird to start a paragraph by calling this a potentially brutal blow to the Guardians immediately after the first paragraph says he’s just day to day
Hallmarks of a Nick Deeds piece.
Nick “Dirty” Deeds.
I really wouldn’t say it’s just semantics though. It’s very possible that he could have lingering effects from it, but even given his durability he won’t play all 162 games. They’ve also scored six runs without him today, and the plan is apparently for him to be back in the lineup tomorrow.
Linked the wrong guy
Alt JRam’s page is so empty it was momentarily disorienting.
Yup, backing this up as it’s still not fixed. That baseball-reference page just went up a billion percent, even if it was just the 3 of us clicking on it.
Jump on the sponsorship opportunities, JRam from Hawkins, TX!
As a former MLBTR writer, it won’t be fixed. That’s a quirk with the bref player linker. Take it up with them. Until then, you know how to use a search bar.
How is this a potentially brutal blow when he is day to day?
Wrist injuries impact baseball players a bit. Even if it is only a few weeks of discomfort, there will be lingering effects from throwing to swinging a bat.
Be well JRam!
Hopefully his wrist is better before they play the Angels (just in case).
Aren’t we all?
Ramirez’s injury stems from a play that appears to be unrelated to his regular workload, yet it could underscore the hidden risk of certain play styles—specifically, aggressive baserunning in high-stakes moments. The irony is that his skillset, which includes such aggressive baserunning, might now indirectly be a detractor to his health and the team’s overall performance.
He’s missed 15 games in the last 3 seasons. And in every MLB season that he’s played full time from 2016 on he’s never missed more than 10 games.
The risk/reward seems to have leaned heavily towards reward with him. And yet another comment where u not only missed the mark but the board entirely…
@Tigers3232
The key issue isn’t whether Ramirez has missed games in the past, but whether his aggressive baserunning increases the probability of injury moving forward. Players don’t have an infinite durability clock—injuries accumulate, even for iron men. His ability to stay on the field despite high-risk plays is commendable, but that doesn’t mean the risk doesn’t exist. The Guardians need him healthy in October, not just in April, and a more calculated approach on the base paths could extend both his peak and his availability when it matters most.
“All strengths are weaknesses.” This applies universally.
“All weaknesses are strengths”. Does that also apply universally?
my five year old can slide better