Jose Ramirez Must Break Out Of Slump For Guardians To Have a Chance

Cleveland Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez has been mired in a pretty bad slump for the better part of the last month.

Jul 22, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) reacts after striking out during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Apparently, the All-Star break was not enough for Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians to extinguish their woes.

Heading into the hiatus, the Guardians had gone just 7-11 over their last 18 games and were experiencing an offensive offensive shortage.

Well, that continued in Cleveland's first series after the break, as it lost two out of three to the San Diego Padres and mustered just one run in the pair of losses.

Ramirez himself went a respectable 3-for-10 with a couple of RBI in the three-game set, but he remained without a home run, a drought that has persisted since June 30.

Yes, Ramirez has not hit a single long ball throughout the month of July, where he is slashing just .226/.273/.274 with three RBI in 16 games. Not so coincidentally, the Guardians have gone 7-9 this month and have been fortunate that the Minnesota Twins have also been slumping.

Cleveland holds a five-game lead over the Twins and the Kansas City Royals for first place in the AL Central (it's six in the loss column over the Royals), but what once felt like a massive cushion suddenly doesn't seem so safe anymore.

The Guardians' starting pitching has been an abject disaster in 2024, and now, their lineup is following suit.

It doesn't help that Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan are also struggling of late, and David Fry has come crashing down to earth after a scorching month of May (he hasn't homered since).

But Ramirez is Cleveland's best player. He is the club's MVP candidate. He is the primary reason why the Guardians' offense was at least respectable over the first half of the season.

Ramirez has hit 23 home runs thus far in 2024. He has also tallied 79 RBI, but 57 of those RBI came in March, April and May.

Lately, the All-Star third baseman has gone into a tailspin, and Cleveland has gone with him. After rattling off 11 multi-hit games last month, Ramirez had logged just three in July.

It's not just a power shortage with Ramirez. He seems out of sorts at the plate in general, as evidenced by the fact that he has only drawn four walks the entire month. Three of those came in one game when he was intentionally walked three times back on July 9. He hasn't walked since.

As a matter of fact, Ramirez's walk rate is just seven percent this season, quite easily his lowest rate since his second year in the league in 2014 (and he only played 68 games that season).

The Guardians severely lack depth offensively. Once you get past the big three of Ramirez, Kwan and Naylor, there really isn't much there. Again, Fry was a great story in May, but he has been M.I.A. since. Cleveland also features five regulars with a sub-.700 OPS. That isn't winning baseball, especially not when your starting rotation ranks near the bottom of the league in ERA.

Cleveland has the trade deadline to add another bat or two, but even if it does acquire a couple of more players, it won't matter all that much unless Ramirez busts out of whatever kind of slide this is.

Ramirez had previously been on pace to shatter his career high of 39 dingers, which he set back in 2018. But suddenly, that potential accomplishment is slipping away.

If Ramirez doesn't get going sometime soon, the Guardians will be in severe danger of coughing up their lead in the AL Central, and they will not be taken seriously as legitimate contenders in the American League.

There are a lot of holes on this roster. Ramirez isn't supposed to be one of them.