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Cleveland Indians: Look out, Jose Ramirez is back!

By Manny Gómez

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 15: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians rounds the bases after he hit a grand slam in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 15: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians rounds the bases after he hit a grand slam in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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At the end of last season and into this season, Jose Ramirez struggled mightily to find his groove. Now, the Cleveland Indians slugger is back and better than ever.

You couldn’t have imagined just how bad Cleveland Indians slugger Jose Ramirez struggled at the end of last season and into the start of the 2019 MLB season. After slashing .290 / .368 / .511 between 2016 and 2018, suddenly Ramirez was slashing .232 / .348 / .423 between June 1, 2018 and June 22, 2019

Speculations arose after a story broke out of the Dominican Republic on May 29, 2018, that the slugger was to be suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs. However, it was later determined that the story was a hoax and Ramirez was never suspended.

This season, Ramirez hit a low when in 46 games he featured a batting average below the Mendoza line. Then, beginning on June 23, 2019, the few ups and even more downs began to turn into a consistent, 2016-2018esque Jose Ramirez level of play, if not better.

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Since then, in 43 games Ramirez is hitting .310 / .353 / .637 with 12 home runs. In that same time span, he has the 5th best fWAR (2.4) in baseball, sitting behind the likes of Mike Trout, Rafael Devers, and Ronald Acuna Jr. What’s better, Ramirez hit his first career grand slam and has had two multi-home run games.

In that time, among his teammates, Ramirez has the highest wOBA (.417), wRC+ (159), OPS (1.038), and fWAR in that time span. The Indians, who prior to June 23, 2019, were sitting in 2nd place, 9.0 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins are now just 0.5 games behind.

Many analysts and experts wondered what the Cleveland Indians were thinking when they decided to trade away Trevor Bauer to the Cinncinati Reds at the trade deadline. In the past, it was thought that in order to compete in the postseason, you need pitching.

Taking a page out of the Boston Red Sox offense last season, however, the Indians have stocked up and big hitters and are now looking to slug their way into their fourth consecutive postseason berth.

Next. Bryce Harper a mixed bag in 2019. dark

So far, it has worked and if Jose Ramirez can continue to perform at this level, the Tribe might have a good chance at a title this season.

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