The Indians need Jose Ramirez to bounce back this year

The Cleveland Indians need star third baseman Jose Ramirez to avoid repeating his dismal 2019 performance.

Despite winning 93 games last year, the Cleveland Indians failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015. The culprit in their failed push for postseason baseball was their anemic offense. Cleveland’s bats were spotty at best in 2019, posting a below-average wRC+ of just 94 for the year.

That was primarily due to the struggles of Jose Ramirez. The two-time All-Star failed to find his stroke until late in the year, and the Indians paid the price for it. They simply couldn’t keep up in the division or in the Wild Card race.

So far in 2020, the Indians have managed to hold their own, winning four out of their first six. However, even with 16 playoff spots up for grabs, Cleveland will need Ramirez to recapture his old form if they want to play baseball in October.

Jose Ramirez is the difference-maker.

The Cleveland Indians already have the makings of a good team without Ramirez. Their starting rotation is one of the best in baseball and has proven so through the team’s first six games. The bullpen has shown to be an equally capable bunch, pitching to the tune of a 2.81 ERA and 2.50 FIP in 16 innings thus far.

But it’s Ramirez who’s the difference-maker. He’s the big bat lurking in the heart of the order than can blow a game open or give the team the lead with one, monstrous hack.

In 2018, for example, Ramirez led all Indians players with at least 250 plate appearances in home runs (39), on-base percentage (.382), slugging (.552), wOBA (.391), and wRC+ (146). Thanks to his efforts, Cleveland’s division-winning offense finished with the third-most runs scored in all of baseball that year, trailing only the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

2019, however, was a different story. Ramirez only played in 129 games due to a fractured hand, and when he was on the field, his performance wasn’t quite up to snuff. He managed a modest 104 wRC+, and his .327 on-base percentage was well below his mark of .375 from the three years prior.

His woes proved to be a stumbling block for the team. Without him playing to the best of his abilities, the offense sputtered, finishing tied for 15th in baseball with 769 total runs scored, per FanGraphs.

In years past, the Indians have been able to bank on their division rivals’ offenses being weak. With such superb pitching, they didn’t need to blow teams out in order to win ballgames. That, however, is a luxury they can no longer afford.

The Minnesota Twins proved themselves to be formidable foes last year when they slugged an MLB-record 307 home runs en route to a 100-win season and a division title. The Chicago White Sox are also on the come-up, with top prospects like Luis Robert and free-agent signings like Yasmani Grandal rounding out a suddenly scary lineup.

There’s simply no amount of pitching that can help them keep pace with the two offensive goliaths that have joined them in the race for AL Central glory. The Indians cannot afford to get the 2019 version of Ramirez. He cannot play the same mediocre baseball that plagued him throughout the majority of last year. They need his bat working at its absolute best in order to keep up with their newly competitive foes.

Fortunately for them, he’s off to a fantastic start. Through his first 26 plate appearances, he’s slashing .435/.500/.783 with a pair of home runs and five runs driven in. Of course, it would be unreasonable to expect him to maintain those numbers, but they’re proof that he can be every bit the player that was an AL MVP finalist in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018.

And with the competition so fierce, that’s exactly what the Indians need.