Scouting report on Jose Ramirez from the 2013 Baseball America Prospect Handbook after he had hit .354 in 70 games at Class A: "Ramirez has little power and minimal physical projection, so some scouts worry that more advanced pitches will eat him up. ... He endears himself to managers with how hard he plays. Ramirez lacks a high ceiling, but he's a well-rounded player who may continue to surprise as he moves through the system."
Baseball America rated Ramirez as Cleveland's No. 23 prospect that year. The next year, he skipped past high-A and hit .272/.325/.349 at Double-A Akron, with three home runs in 113 games, and earned a September call-up. Baseball America bumped him up to the No. 9 Cleveland prospect in its 2014 scouting annual, although still behind a couple of other middle infielders named Dorssys Paulino and Ronny Rodriguez.
The scouting report on Ramirez from that year: "He has a smooth swing from both sides of the plate and sprays line drives to all fields. He does have some pull-side power, more so as a right-handed batter, but home runs aren't part of his game. Ramirez excels at working counts and rarely chases. ... The game never speeds up on Ramirez, and the major league staff raved about his energy."
In the Indian's 9-1 victory over the White Sox on Wednesday, Ramirez showed that home runs have most definitely become part of his game. He slugged his 17th, joining Albert Belle as the only players in Indians history with 17 home runs by the end of May:
Hosey hit his 17th HR on July 9th last season.
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) May 30, 2018
Today is May 30th. Here is his 17th ...#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/wkTzwKICEi
Only J.D. Martinez, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper have more home runs, and while Ramirez's season has kind of been lost in the dust of the all-around brilliance of Trout and Mookie Betts, not to mention teammate Francisco Lindor, he has hit three home runs in his past four games, raising his season line to .300/.393/.628. The minor leaguer without much power is on pace for 51 doubles and 51 home runs. The only player in MLB history to hit the 50/50 mark: Belle, in the strike-shortened 1995 season.
So how did this happen? How did Ramirez develop from a player rated similarly to Ronny Rodriguez into one of the brilliant stars of the game? Let's start with a quick comparison to Rodriguez. The two infielders, just five months apart in age, were teammates at Akron in 2013:
Ramirez: .272/.325/.349, 533 PA, 3 HR, 39 BB, 41 SO
Rodriguez: .265/.291/.376, 498 PA, 5 HR, 16 BB, 76 SO
Ramirez didn't have a super-high walk rate, but he also rarely struck out. As the scouting report alluded to, he already had excellent plate discipline, and the strikeout rate shows he had excellent bat control. Rodriguez (who is now in Triple-A with the Tigers) lacked that kind of control of the strike zone. Given that Ramirez was young for Double-A, there were a lot of positive statistical indicators aside from the lack of power.
Ramirez split the 2014 and 2015 seasons between Triple-A and the majors, hitting .237/.295/.342 over 621 plate appearances with the Indians. At that point, he profiled as a classic utility infielder, but it's worth noting: (A) He was still very young, just 22 in 2015; (B) he had nearly as many walks as strikeouts that year (32 walks, 39 K's); and (C) he hit .280/.341/.547 in September. His 2016 breakout actually had begun the previous season. Perhaps not coincidentally, Ramirez's power numbers started to grow after the new, livelier baseball was introduced around the 2015 All-Star break.
Those early reports mentioned Ramirez's energy and work ethic. No doubt that has helped in his development, although there are a lot 5-foot-9 guys in the minors who have energy and work hard yet never make the majors. Ramirez had the skills all along.
Earlier this week, Ramirez had to deny a report out of the Dominican Republic that he was about to be suspended for a positive PED test. The Indians contacted MLB, which confirmed that there was no truth to the rumor. Ramirez himself laughed it off and tweeted, "FAKE NEWS."
Still, there are all those home runs he has been hitting. The simple explanation: launch angle. According to Statcast data, Ramirez isn't hitting the ball much harder than he did in 2016, when he hit 11 home runs. He is, however, hitting more balls at an optimal launch angle.
2016: 88.0 mph average exit velocity, 12.9 degrees average launch angle
2017: 88.0 mph average exit velocity, 14.8 degrees average launch angle
2018: 88.7 mph average exit velocity, 16.8 degrees average launch angle
Oh, and his chase rate has continued to improve and his walk rate is higher than ever (he has more walks than strikeouts). It's a beautiful thing.
Alex Reyes back with Cardinals, but Brewers pull out the win: Good news for the Cardinals: Alex Reyes returned for his first major league start since Tommy John surgery and pitched four scoreless innings, averaging 95.0 mph with his fastball. Bad news for the Cardinals: The Brewers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to come away with a 3-2 victory. Here's Christian Yelich tying the game with a 441-foot blast to dead center off Tyler Lyons:
Put the ball on the tee for @ChristianYelich?
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 30, 2018
Might as well just ask for another ball. pic.twitter.com/nBUVJVFmof
As the Brewers continue to roll with the National League's best record, it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals sort out their pitching staff. Carlos Martinez is scheduled to make one rehab start later this week, then rejoin the rotation next week. That likely will push Luke Weaver or Jack Flaherty to the bullpen. Weaver's peripherals are solid, but he has a 4.63 ERA while Flaherty has a 2.15 ERA over his five starts, so it seems Weaver is most likely to go the pen. He could be used as a multi-inning backup for Reyes, who obviously will be monitored closely, and otherwise give the Cards some much-needed help in front of closer Bud Norris.
Of course, there's another way Flaherty or Weaver could be used: as trade bait for Manny Machado. The Cardinals' offense is still scuffling a bit as it waits for Marcell Ozuna and Dexter Fowler to start hitting. If they don't, the need for an impact bat will become more acute. Would St. Louis trade six seasons of team control of a young pitcher for half a season of Machado? I don't know if I would, but the Cardinals might have to make a big move in a tough division.
The tumbling Twins: I had liked what I'd seen from Fernando Romero in his few major league starts, but then this happened against a weak-hitting Royals lineup: 1⅔ IP, 9 H, 8 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR. Ouch.
Maybe the Twins just wanted to make sure tonight wasn't another walk-off loss.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 31, 2018
The Twins failed to take advantage of Cleveland's slow start, but now the Indians have won five in a row to quickly give them some separation from the Tigers and Twins in the American League Central. The Twins can hold out hope for a surge -- Brian Dozier hasn't hit much, Miguel Sano hasn't done much and missed some time, Logan Morrison is still below .200 and Byron Buxton was a big zero when he was in the lineup (and is now out six weeks with a broken toe). But it feels like an opportunity lost. On the other hand, they still have 17 games remaining against Cleveland. They're going to have to win a lot of those.
Luis Severino, ace: The Yankees and Astros played a fun series, with some playoff-like electricity at Yankee Stadium. Justin Verlander won the opener, but the Yankees took the next two games, with Severino dominating in Wednesday's 5-3 victory, striking out 11 in seven innings and serving up only Max Stassi's two-run homer in the fifth.
I love how Severino has really learned to mix his pitches. He'll throw Alex Bregman seven straight four-seamers, like he did in the first inning, then follow up with a bunch of sliders to strike out Jose Altuve. He threw a bunch of changeups to Carlos Correa, and you don't see many right-on-right changeups, but Severino struck him out with one in the fourth, then got Correa to pop up in the sixth when he went after him with a fastball.
Severino improved to 8-1 with a 2.31 ERA and has been much better in two starts against the Astros than he was last season:
2018: 16 IP, 2 ER, 21 SO
2017 (including postseason): 16⅓ IP, 13 ER, 12 SO