Cleveland Guardians All-Star Jose Ramirez is a darkish horse within the American League MVP race, and on Wednesday, he supplied another excuse why he is deserving.
Ramirez went deep in opposition to the Arizona Diamondbacks, securing a 30-home run, 20-stolen base marketing campaign for the third time in his profession. The 31-year-old is now tied with Alex Rodriguez (2007, 2005, 2004) and Howard Johnson (1991, 1989, 1987) for essentially the most such seasons by a 3rd baseman in MLB historical past, per Stathead.
Solely 14 third basemen all-time have completed the feat at the least as soon as. Ramirez is considered one of solely two energetic gamers on the checklist, together with Manny Machado, who completed with 35 residence runs and 20 stolen bases for the Baltimore Orioles in 2015.
Within the Guardians doubleheader in opposition to the Diamondbacks, Ramirez completed 2-for-7 with two RBI. He is slashing .282./.335/.548 with a .882 OPS and ranks fifth in residence runs (30) and second in RBI (96) amongst MLB hitters.
As is anticipated from MVP-caliber gamers, Ramirez has been remarkably constant for the Guardians. Since Could 5, he is gone hitless in back-to-back video games solely as soon as, posting 25 residence runs, 71 RBI and solely 44 strikeouts over that stretch (337 plate appearances).
Nonetheless, Ramirez is seemingly an extended shot to win the AL MVP award. In response to Fanduel Sports activities Ebook, he at present has the fifth-best odds (+13000), behind favourite Aaron Decide (-1350), Bobby Witt Jr. (+700), Gunnar Henderson (+1600) and Juan Soto (+3000).
It most likely does not assist that Ramirez and the Guardians are within the midst of a five-game dropping streak, their longest of the 2024 season. However on the intense facet, Cleveland (67-47) continues to be answerable for its future, proudly owning a 3.5-game lead over the Minnesota Twins (63-50) for the AL Central division lead.
