Cleveland Baseball Insider

Jose Ramirez Should Be Starting In The All-Star Game

The Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez should be the American League's starting third baseman in the 2023 MLB All-Star Game.

Tommy Wild

Jose Ramirez Should Be Starting In The All-Star Game
Jose Ramirez Should Be Starting In The All-Star Game /
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The Mid-Summer Classic is always the best All-Star Game of the four major sports. It feels like the only game where the players are actually giving it their all and trying to have their team come out on top.

The Cleveland Guardians do have a few players headed to this year's game in Seattle. But their role should be bigger than it's projected to be. 

With it being the most competitive showcase in the game, fans should want to see the very best players starting at their respected position. But that's not quite the case this year. 

Jose Ramirez made the All-Star roster, but he will not be starting. These honors will go to Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung. 

I don't want to take anything away from Jung's incredible season he's put together so far. It is All-Star worthy. However, the best third baseman in the American League is easily Ramirez.

Jose is leading AL third baseman in hits (91), batting average (.293), slugging (.511), and OPS (.873). The only stat in the traditional split that he isn't in first is in OBP. Isaac Paredes has the highest with a .372 and Ramirez is right behind him with a .362. 

One area where Jose does lag is RBI. He only has 52 on the season which is fourth in his position group. Some of this could be because of the incredibly slow start that the entire team got off to at the start of the season. Runners have to be on base in order to drive them in.

But still, even though Ramirez is in fourth in RBI, Jung is behind him with 50 at this point of the season. So Jose still has driven in more runs than the starting third baseman. 

Let's look at some defense numbers too. 

Ramirez currently ranks in the 97th percentile in outs above average. He has seven OAA and has prevented five runs from scoring. Each of those stats is second among AL's third baseman behind Maikel Garcia of the Kansas City Royals.

It is disappointing to not see Ramirez get the nod to start in the All-Star Game. He is one of the game's top players and it still feels like fans need to fight to make sure he gets recognized for being that.

However, it is likely we'll get to see Jose play a few innings and get a couple of plate appearances in this year's All-Star Game. All the action takes place on July 11 at 8:00 PM EST

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Photo Credit © Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

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Tommy Wild
TOMMY WILD

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