José

Ramírez

Ramírez continues to be one of the hottest hitters in baseball, reaching base safely in two of his five plate appearances in this one, after homering four times over his previous seven contests. The 33-year-old fantasy superstar has raised his batting average nearly 100 points, from .133 on April 7 to .230 in just 12 games.

Ramírez ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Orioles’ left-hander Trevor Rogers for a 408-foot (106.2 mph EV) solo shot in the fourth inning that made it a 2-0 ballgame. He then replicated the feat in the fifth, that time belting a 1-1 changeup for a 379-foot (103.6 mph EV) solo shot to left that made it 6-4. With the two-hit attack, the superstar third baseman is now hitting .229/.354/.494 with six homers, 12 RBI and 10 stolen bases on the season.

Well, it seems like the Orioles’ plan was to not let Ramírez beat them in this one. With that intention, they succeeded. Only one of these walks was ‘intentional’ by the letter of the law and that was the only time Ramírez came around to score. Otherwise, they were careful and he didn’t try to be the hero. It’s just a shame that his teammates couldn’t do more with their opportunities in a game the Orioles wound up coming from behind to win. He’s still getting his this season on the whole with four home runs and a league-leading nine stolen bases.

The 33-year-old superstar got the Guardians on the board first, ambushing a first-pitch fastball from Shane Baz for a 388-foot (103.9 mph EV) two-run shot in the home half of the first inning, giving the Guardians a lead they would never relinquish. Ramírez also led off the sixth inning with a walk and scored on an RBI single off the bat of George Valera. With his two-hit effort, Ramírez is now hitting .224/.322/.434 with four homers, 10 RBI and eight stolen bases through his first 87 plate appearances.

Everyone loves a combo meal, but not many enjoy them more than Ramírez. The somehow-underrated third baseman smacked his third homer of the season off Michael McGreevy, and his steal gives him eight over the first 18 games. He’s not going to steal 72 bases like he’s on pace to do now, but he should once again be among the league leader in that category, along with a few others. He’s good.

Ramírez has now stolen four bases since Saturday. The 33-year-old still is hitting a less-than-desirable .200/.297/.354, but a pair of hits Monday has seen his average increase by nearly 50 points since Friday. Ramírez has gotten off to slow starts before, and he’s still been as good as any infielder in baseball during those campaigns. There’s zero to worry about here.

That’s more like it. Ramírez has not had an effective first two weeks of the season, but Saturday was a very friendly reminder — to everyone but Atlanta and those facing him in fantasy leagues — of how silly it is to worry. His homer is the second of the season, while the steals double his total from two to four. The perennial MVP candidate is still hitting just .175/.277/.333, but it’s just a matter of time until those numbers sky rocket.

Ramírez (6-for-39) has only two more hits than Austin Hedges (4-for-8) this season. He walked once in the first game today, but he was retired his other seven times up, leaving him at .154/.214/.282 overall. The Guardians have had a really tough schedule to date (they started with road series against the Mariners and Dodgers), which has taken a toll on most of the lineup, but it’d be nice for those who picked Ramírez in round one to see him start hitting the ball harder in near future.

Ramírez gave Cleveland a commanding four-run lead with a towering two-run homer to left in the eighth inning, hammering a high fastball from Dodgers lefty Tanner Scott. The 33-year-old fantasy stalwart has gotten off to an unexpected frosty start at the plate, hitting .143 (4-for-28) with one homer, five RBI and two steals through seven games.

The 33-year-old slugger is expected to be a regular against left-handed pitching for the Guardians, but he’s in there against a right-hander as well on Opening night. If he’s able to stay healthy and regain his power stroke, he could wind up providing some mixed league viability. Here’s the full lineup that manager Stephen Vogt will use against Logan Gilbert and the M’s on Thursday: Steven Kwan (LF), Chase DeLauter (RF), Jose Ramirez (3B), Kyle Manzardo (DH), Bo Naylor (C), Rhys Hoskins (1B), Daniel Schneemann (CF), Gabriel Arias (SS) and Brayan Rocchio (2B).