José Ramírez’s place in the AL MVP race, and what makes Cleveland’s third baseman so good



Sep 9, 2021; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) runs the bases before being caught in a rundown against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

By Zack Meisel 1h ago 5

NEW YORK — There are, believe it or not, a few steps José Ramírez can take to work his way into the American League MVP conversation that revolves around Shohei Ohtani and, to a lesser extent, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

First, Ramírez would need to bathe in the fairy dust Carl Willis and Ruben Niebla sprinkle on their starting pitchers. Then, he’d need to join Cleveland’s rotation and author a series of masterpieces on the mound for the final two weeks of the season. Finally, he’d need to record a barrage of home runs and stolen bases, the sort of surge Albert Belle rode to the end of the 1995 season. (Mo Vaughn topping Belle for the AL MVP that year was a travesty.)

OK, even a superhuman performance from Ramírez the rest of the way wouldn’t be enough to vault him into the AL MVP debate. The race is pretty clear-cut, with Ohtani and Guerrero at the top and a significant gap separating the rest of the pack. Ramírez should fall into that second tier, but there are plenty of candidates who could sneak onto voters’ ballots, including Cedric Mullins, Marcus Semien, Salvador Perez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, José Altuve, Matt Olson, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández.

Ramírez ranks fourth in the AL in position player fWAR, with 5.3, though that excludes Ohtani, who has amassed 7.3 fWAR overall.

Ramírez’s slash line — .258/.348/.539 — is impressive, though by his standards it seems slightly underwhelming. He has been an MVP finalist (top three in his league) in three of the past four years. No player in baseball can match that claim.

Ramírez in 2021 vs. his MVP finalist seasons:

2017: .957 OPS, 146 wRC+
2018: .939 OPS, 147 wRC+
2020: .993 OPS, 164 wRC+
2021: .887 OPS, 132 wRC+

He might need a sizzling finish to sneak into the top three for the fourth time in five seasons, but it’s not impossible. Since he blossomed into an everyday player in 2016, Ramírez has posted a .285/.363/.531 slash line with nearly as many extra-base hits (392) as strikeouts (405).

What is it that makes Ramírez, who turns 29 today, so good?


Jose Ramírez bashes another baseball. (Ken Blaze / USA Today)
He lures pitchers into a spell.

Every opponent knows exactly what Ramírez wants to do: yank a fastball on the inner or middle of the plate. The problem, for the pitcher, is Ramírez won’t chase anything out of the zone, and he rarely swings-and-misses (94th percentile in whiff rate). Since Ramírez won’t bite, the hapless pitcher often submits to his demands.

Ramírez is pulling the ball far more than he ever has: 55.7 percent of the time; the league average is 36.6 percent. Defenses have shifted against him 96.4 percent of the time when he bats left-handed. (Imagine the numbers he could register if MLB ever restricts shifting.)

His patience and contact ability fuel impressive walk and strikeout rates. His strikeout rate (13.7 percent) ranks fifth in the AL. Among the top 20 hitters in the majors, by strikeout rate, Ramírez ranks second in walk rate, behind only Juan Soto.

Ramírez’s contact rate on pitches in the zone is elite (90.9 percent). His contact rate on pitches out of the zone is much higher than league average (71.3 percent).

Also, his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) of .243 — league average is .291 — suggests he’s endured rotten luck this season, and speaks to the frequent shifts he faces. Sure, he could make more of an effort to hit the ball to the opposite field and find holes in the infield defense, but that approach sent him sputtering in 2019.

What does this all mean? Ramírez can foul off pitches on the outside part of the plate and resist pitches out of the zone until the pitcher decides to throw something in his wheelhouse. And when the pitcher caves, Ramírez is usually ready to deliver an extra-base hit.

He doesn’t just slap singles around the field.

He’s diminutive, but strong, and he knows which pitches he can smack toward the outfield seats. Ramírez has hit 160 career home runs. Only two have gone to the opposite field. The rest have been pulled, with an occasional home run to center.

He’s not picky, either. Sure, he’d love to turn on a fastball and deposit it into the outfield seats, but his numbers against fastballs and off-speed pitches are pretty similar. Ramírez is hitting the ball harder than he ever has and doing so more often than he ever has.

Since the start of the 2016 season, no player in baseball has tallied more doubles than Ramírez (219). Only Nolan Arenado has recorded more extra-base hits in that span. Ramírez ranks second in the AL this season in extra-base-hit rate (nearly one every eight plate appearances).

He could be in line for his first Gold Glove Award.

FanGraphs credits Ramírez with 8 DRS (defensive runs saved) this season, which leads all AL third basemen. He is in the 93rd percentile in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric, after ranking in the 9th percentile in 2020. He has historically fared well in that domain (89th percentile in 2019, 79th in 2018 and 94th in 2017).

Coaches point to him as an example of how to run the bases.


Jose Ramírez has 150 career stolen bases. (Ken Blaze / USA Today)
He’s far from the fastest player — he ranks 143rd in the majors in sprint speed — but he’s 23-for-26 in stolen base attempts this season. Ramírez, Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. are the only players this season with 30 or more home runs and 20 or more steals.

Ramírez is the only player in the league with a 20/20 season in 2018, 2019 and 2021. (No one accomplished the feat in 2020, though Ramírez was on pace to eclipse both totals had the season been 162 games.) His base-running acumen factors into why his WAR is consistently high. FanGraphs rates him as the fourth-best base runner in the AL, just ahead of speedy teammate Myles Straw. Cleveland’s coaches implore young players to study how he runs the bases in an aggressive but smart manner, even if he’s lost his helmet a career-high 69 times this season. Unfortunately for Ramírez, helmet losses don’t factor into his MVP candidacy.

Reads like an obituary for someone who's gone.

Absolutely agree seagull the catcher thing is a minor one.

Look we all know one thing. The rotation is a strength of this team and that is a rarity in MLB today. So we can go from there.

Offensively Reyes and Ramirez are the real deal. After that...sure there are a couple secondary guys perfectly usable.

But yes the offseason is all about addressing the offense - this is a slam dunk no brainer for even the most casual observer of Cleveland baseball.

(With Clase they have a killer closer and they can figure out the rest of the pen - they always do)

One more thing about Shaw that has become evident to me.

In these closing days I do believe he is being kept for the strict reason of being an innings eater.

Look, last season was only 60 games and finding arms to fill innings this year WITHOUT worrying about damaging them is an issue.

With Brian Shaw - no worries. Even if they overuse him, so what? So seems to me that's his function at this point. It beats using position players.

They got terrific use out of Shaw for the first half of the season. More than anyone expected.

Just worn out or lack of sticky stuff reduced his contribution over the last half.

He won't be back next season.

by Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If there was an award for the best second half of a season by an American League pitcher, Cal Quantrill would be clearing space on his mantle right now.

Coming off his longest career start in a win against Minnesota last week, Quantrill tossed another 6 2/3 innings at the Twins on Wednesday in a 10-3 Indians win. It’s a result that’s been pretty commonplace when the right-hander has taken the mound for the Indians since mid-July.

As things currently stand, Quantrill’s stunning second half has him positioned just on the outside of the AL Cy Young Award conversation looking in. It’s a bit of a reach to say he will get any votes when ballots are counted in October, but the way Quantrill has been trending for the last two months, he’s clearly knocking on the door.

That’s pretty impressive considering his season began in the bullpen after being unable to win a spot in Cleveland’s rotation following an up-and-down spring training. Now Quantrill is the bedrock of that rotation, solidifying his future with the franchise by going 5-1 with a 1.79 ERA in his last 12 starts and potentially garnering consideration for some down-ballot votes for pitching’s most coveted award.

A strong finish to September could make voters take notice as the AL Cy Young field has separated into a race between Toronto’s Robbie Ray — the league’s ERA and strikeouts leader — and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who is tops with 15 wins. Injuries have decimated the remainder of the field with Oakland’s Chris Bassitt and Lance Lynn of the White Sox once considered strong candidates now on the sidelines.

Even with Shohei Ohtani posting nine wins and a sub-3.00 ERA, his lack of innings (112) means the Angels’ two-way star will likely have to settle for running away with the MVP vote instead. Other candidates such as Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi and Blue Jays trade acquisition Jose Berrios have either missed time or don’t have the numbers to rank among the AL’s elite in the second half.

That brings us to Quantrill, who made 18 of his first 26 appearances in relief, posting a 1.88 ERA and a 101 OPS+ in 28 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. His transition to the starting rotation after Cleveland was beset by injuries was slow and, at times, painful. But the 26-year-old found his stride in August and has recorded quality starts in nine of his last 11 outings.

Since mid-July, Quantrill leads all AL pitchers in ERA with a minimum 60 innings pitched and ranks second in opponent batting average (.191) and fourth in WHIP (1.01). His strikeout-to-walk rate of 14.1% is fifth best in the league in that span.

Opposing hitters have a .224 batting average on balls in play against him, which is good for third-best in the league behind teammate Triston McKenzie since July 17. And his 29.5% hard-contact rate is fourth best.
Last 12 starts W/L ERA IP ER BB K AVG
Gerritt Cole, NYY 7-4 3.26 67.0 25 22 101 .233
Robbie Ray, TOR 5-1 2.00 76.0 17 19 103 .195
Cal Quantrill, CLE 5-1 1.79 75.1 15 25 67 .192

The difference for Quantrill has been improved command and control of his fastball, which makes all of his other pitches play up. He’s been able to locate his changeup better, and has managed to create separation between his slider and his cutter.

He still throws his sinker the most (36.6% of the time), but has increased usage of his four-seam fastball (15%) since moving to the rotation, making him less predictable when he gets ahead of hitters in the count.

“I just want to execute,” Quantrill said after Wednesday’s win. “I’m not going to try and trick them. I’m not going to try and come up with a new pitch. Just execute at a higher rate.”

Whether or not he receives any down-ballot consideration from Cy Young voters remains to be seen, but doing so could go a long way toward setting Quantrill up for a big season in 2022.

Not too bad for a guy who might have been the most overlooked part of the Mike Clevinger trade with San Diego last season. That deal also netted outfielder Josh Naylor and prospects Owen Miller, Gabriel Arias and Joey Cantillo. Quantrill is proving that he was far from a throw-in. [HE FORGOT WE GOT AUSTIN HEDGES IN THIS DEAL, TOO]

Quantrill described this season as “a battle to try and put everything together” after Wednesday’s win at Minnesota.

“It’s been fun to play baseball the way that I remember playing when I was younger,” He said. “Now I go up there with the belief and intent that I’m going to throw a quality start every time. I have multiple different weapons and I’m not trapped throwing the same pitches to the same guys over and over again. For me, it’s just the culmination of a lot of work, hopefully we can continue to dominate the rest of the way.”

if Padres had him, they'd be leading for 2nd wild card

Indians: Cal Quantril should be in the discussion for the 2021 Cy Young
by Chad Porto15 hours ago Follow @ChadNerdCorp



Cal Quantrill should be in the Cy Young conversation for 2021 and maybe 2022.

Cleveland.com posted an interesting article about Cal Quantrill being someone that could earn some fringe AL Cy Young votes for his performance in 2021. Admittedly, they aren’t wrong. While it took some time for Quantrill to adjust to the stamina a starter needed after spending a year-plus in the bullpen, Quantrill has come on strong for well over 12 starts. Not every one of those starts has been brilliant, admittedly so, but no great pitcher has a year free of a few bad outings.

That doesn’t mean that Quantrill will get votes for the Cy Young award, just that he should.

The award, thankfully, isn’t just about getting a vote. It’s tiered. You vote for the five most deserving people in order. Last year Shane Bieber received all 30 first-place votes. Due to that, he received210 total points.

First-place votes are weighted to mean significantly more than any other. While the MVP has a system of nine points for first place, eight for a second, and so on, the Cy Young awards seven points for first place considerations, and then four points for second, three points for third, two points for fourth, and one point for fifth.

So it’s very likely Quantrill can walk away with a Top 10 placing.


Cal Quantrill should get votes but he shouldn’t win the award
Quantrill probably shouldn’t get any third, second, or first-place votes. At the time of this article, Quantrill had only started 20 games but has pitched in 38. That’s because he spent nearly half the season coming in as a middle reliever, arguably the team’s best reliever during his tenure in the pen but still; it’s hard to argue a reliever is a Cy Young winner.

Quantrill also struggled for his first several starts pretty badly. That’s no means a criticism of his talent. It happens. It’s merely a mark against his Cy Young potential. You have to be honest in the critiques of talents and as good as Quantrill has been since August, you don’t win awards for only being great for half a season.

What all this does say is that one, Quantrill was the team’s best starter this season. Secondly, it means he should be a contender for the AL Cy Young next season. Quantrill and Shane Bieber are going to be very problematic at the top of the rotation. If Aaron Civale can take the next step in his development, it’s very possible the team could have three candidates for the award.

If that comes to pass, that will draw a lot of comparisons with former Tribe pitchers Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, and Carlos Carrasco; themselves a three-head Cy Young hunting beast for a time.

The rise of this new three-headed dragon may bring the Indians back to prominence in 2022.

Cleveland Indians: Chalk up a first season win in Francisco Lindor trade
by Brent Messett19 hours ago Follow @PapaBear____


Cleveland Indians, Andres Gimenez

Chalk up a first season win for the Cleveland Indians in Francisco Lindor trade

With the sun beginning to set on what’s been a mostly disastrous season, we take time to reflect. For the Cleveland Indians, It has been a whirlwind of a year filled with conflict, health issues, rebranding, hitting insufficiency, and roster moves.

As dark, as things have been for Cleveland baseball over the last 8 months we’ve been lucky enough to catch flashes of light. This year, a handful of those bright spots have come from Amed Rosario who was one of four players the Cleveland Indians acquired in return for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco in January.


Initially, it proved difficult to find a home for Rosario because of his defensive limitations. It was a concern specifically at the shortstop position which is why the club attempted to put him in the outfield.

Through the first half, Rosario took time to settle in. The outfield experiment was to no avail, and he finally slotted in at shortstop where he would stay for the remainder of the season. On the year Amed Rosario has notched a .288 average with a .729 OPS. That may not seem like much but as previously stated in a recent article on Indians’ prospect Will Benson, value comes in many forms so let’s take a look a little deeper.

It was evident from the start that Amed Rosario would be absolutely dynamic on the bases, he managed to muster four first-half triples to go along with his eight stolen bags and 40 runs scored. According to baseball savant, he ranks in the 98th percentile for sprint speed this season and that has been put on display every time he takes the field.


The more surprising aspects of Rosario’s game came along as the season progressed. He proved to be an incredibly effective hitter with runners in scoring position where he hit .308 with an .806 OPS.

After the All-Star break this year, Rosario has been stellar, posting a .306 average and a .786 OPS. In August alone, Amed Rosario showed his doubters the unlocked potential with an unbelievable .372 average paired with a .981 OPS. Within that month he accounted for 38 runs, or 1.3 runs per game, which is more than 28% of the team’s runs scored in August.

Francisco Lindor has shown struggles all season. Whether at the plate, with the New York media, or nagging injuries Lindor just can’t seem to catch a break. In the first half of the season, both Lindor and Rosario were shaky. Lindor posted a .225 average with a .698 OPS and Amed hit .259 with a .673 OPS. This is where the similarities cease.

Once the corner was turned to the second half, where Lindor’s struggles continued, Rosario began to thrive and the result was a scorching August (mentioned above) which was aided by a 10-game hit streak. Of course, the ultimate deciding factor in this head-to-head match-up is Amed Rosario tallied 23 more games than Francisco Lindor. We all know the old saying, the best ability is availability and Amed Rosario was simply available to help his team more often than Francisco Lindor. Time will tell which direction these two careers go but, at this point, the scales seem slightly tipped in the direction of Amed Rosario.

Included in the blockbuster trade was Carlos Carrasco, who dealt with injuries and has only made nine starts for the Mets thus far, Andres Gimenez who played most of the year in Triple-A Columbus, Josh Wolf who pitched in Low-A Lynchburg this season, and possibly the most intriguing of all, Isaiah Greene who is playing in the Arizona Complex League.

Unfortunately for Carrasco, he wasn’t able to get much going this year. He tore his hamstring coming out of spring training and missed the entire first half of the year. Since then he has only been able to pull out a 5.59 ERA over 38.2 innings pitched. Those 38.2 innings came over nine starts where Carrasco has a record of 1-2.

Gimenez showed flashes of something special while in Triple-A Columbus but hasn’t given much of anything since being called up on August 7th. At only 23-years old there is still a chance for him to develop as he gets more playing time but a .250 hitter in over 250 career at-bats seems to be the makings of a career .250 hitter.

For now, Gimenez has taken on somewhat of a utility role where he’s played an even split 19 and 19 games at shortstop and second base. He has a lot of competition coming up through the system but his defensive ability and big-league experience may give him the upper hand as the spring rolls around.

This brings us to the key minor league trade chips.

Wolf was a second-round pick by the Mets in 2019 out of St. Thomas HS in Houston TX. He started five games in rookie ball and notched an impressive 13.5 strikeouts per nine. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolf was unable to play in 2020 which has led to a bit of a down year in Low-A Lynchburg. He has made 17 starts with a 5.35 ERA, but the bright side is that Wolf has logged 9.2 strikeouts per nine over his 65.2 innings pitched. There is definitely something there to be excited about as the Indians are known to be great with pitching development.

Isaiah Greene was drafted by the Mets in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Corona HS in California. 2021 is his first-ever professional experience and in 41 games he has shown that he could be the real deal. Hitting .288 with a .791 OPS in his first season, after taking an entire year off is great news for the franchise moving forward. Even better, as it stands right now, Isaiah Greene is second in the Arizona Complex League with a whopping .421 OBP. He could prove to be a very solid leadoff bat if he builds on what he has displayed in the ACL.

All of these factors have led me to the conclusion that up to now, the Cleveland Indians are winning the Francisco Lindor trade. Some of you may find it hard to wrap your head around but the numbers don’t lie. This may not always be the case, so chalk one up for the good guys and let’s stay vigilant as we cheer them on in season two, post-Lindor.

Not sure I'd call this season disastrous. OK Bieber, Civale and Plesac were pretty much casualties - definitely disastrous there.

But the plan this season was to take a step back, look at players (post pandemic) and see who we have moving forward.

I'd call Quantrill and McKenzie far from disastrous - more like miraculous.

Look an effective and cost effective starting 5 is incredibly rare and valuable. We go from there.

Article on Amed included

Absolutely
Incredibly
Etc
The guys a terrible writer
He evaluates Wolf’s lousy year as impressive
Pollyanna.com?

Cleveland Indians show life while hurting chances for the New York Yankees
by Kyle Edmond2 hours ago Follow @kyleedmond7


Cleveland Indians, Roberto Perez

Cleveland Indians show life while hurting chances for the New York Yankees

At this point it’s safe to say that the 2021 season is basically over for the Cleveland Indians. Two weeks remain in the season with 15 games left to be played. The team is sitting 10 games out of the Wild Card and 11 back in the American League Central. However, even with a record of 73-74, Cleveland is finding a way to impact the playoff picture.

After falling to the Yankees by a score of 8-0 on Friday the Tribe could have easily curled up and rode out the weekend series. There isn’t much to play for from a team standpoint, but luckily the team continued to push. Despite the rough first game, Cleveland came out swinging the rest of the series, outscoring New York 22-4 thanks to a pair of 11-run offensive outbursts.

Away Back Gone
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As I said, there wasn’t much for Cleveland to play for as a team. There are individual goals to achieve and roles to play for in the future, but the postseason is out of reach. However, it isn’t out of reach for New York and Cleveland’s two-day surge could play a huge role in the playoff picture for the American League.

The Wild Card race is becoming very tight down the stretch. With the weekend’s slate of games behind us, the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays are clinging to the two slots. Trailing closely are the New York Yankees at 1.5 games back, the Oakland Athletics who are a pair back and the Seattle Mariners who are four back.

Toronto saw the same results as Cleveland over the weekend, losing on Friday before winning on Saturday and Sunday. So while Friday saw New York gain a game, Saturday and Sunday allowed Toronto to gain ground and then pass the Yankees in the standings. Maybe our old friend Mark Shapiro will remember that in future trade negotiations.


Cleveland isn’t the only team to give New York problems recently either. After a strong month of August that featured a 13-game winning streak, the Bronx Bombers have struggled mightily in September, including a seven-game losing streak that has almost reversed the progress made by August’s winning streak.

After being 35-17 between July and August, the Yankees have plummeted to 7-11 so far in the month of September. Losses to Cleveland, Baltimore and other teams that they should beat on paper have derailed their chances a bit. It just goes to show that deadline moves to acquire top talent, like Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo, doesn’t always work.

From Cleveland’s perspective, the wins are refreshing to see. The team could very easily not care about the rest of the season, but they’re showing fight which will help not only the players, but the coaching staff as well.

The front office recently came out and said that the plan is to have Terry Francona return to the bench next season. However, at some point Francona is going to step away. The effort that the club is still showing down the stretch speaks to the leadership of DeMarlo Hale. The players aren’t quitting or coasting to the end of the season and Hale can be attributed at pushing for those results.

To the same note, the players are aware that the season might be over but there’s still eyes watching. This is an evaluation period in every aspect of the game and the team is trying to get younger. It’s an audition for not only the 2022 Cleveland Indians, but all of Major League Baseball.

So while the postseason might be out of reach for Cleveland, the Tribe still managed to impact the playoff race this past weekend. While it would be nice if those wins meant something more for Cleveland’s playoff hopes, it’s always nice to throw a wrench into the playoff plans of the New York Yankees. Not to mention it helps trend the end of the season in a more positive spin.

As stated above, there’s still a couple weeks left in the season and a little more than a dozen games remaining. Cleveland can still end on a high note and the New York series was an example. Hopefully, there’s some signs to take into the offseason that can provide hope for the 2022 campaign.

Roberto Perez, $7MM club option with $450K buyout: Perez had a $5.5MM option picked up for the 2021 season despite a down year in 2020, though it hasn’t worked out for the soon-to-be Guardians. Due to injuries, Perez has only played 36 games this year and has hit a meager .139/.250/.313. His last full season, 2019, was quite good, however, as he hit .239/.321/.452 for a wRC+ of 99. If Cleveland thinks he can get back into that form, he’d be well worth $7MM, but it’s more likely the always-frugal club just cuts him loose. The 33-year-old could make for an interesting buy-low, bounceback candidate.

From https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Why Shane Bieber wants to return, Anthony Gose’s arrival and Emmanuel Clase’s unrivaled heat: Meisel’s Musings



May 27, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) pitches in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

By Zack Meisel Sep 20, 2021 10

NEW YORK — The Akron RubberDucks needed a win in their regular-season finale Sunday to secure a postseason berth. Quite a day to recruit a Cy Young Award-winning ringer to the roster.

The Indians have been relegated to the role of spoiler, but Shane Bieber is nearing a return to their rotation, a couple of weeks after Aaron Civale did the same following a long absence.

The question has been routinely raised in recent weeks: Why is the club so intent on Bieber pitching again this season when the Indians, unlike their Double-A affiliate, are not pursuing a playoff spot? (Akron won the game, by the way, though it trailed when Bieber departed in the fourth inning.)

Bieber has stressed that a normal offseason, with a customary build toward spring training, is the goal. So he would prefer to make an appearance or two before the end of the MLB season to have tangible results to reference after the completion of his recovery from a shoulder strain.

Bieber hasn’t appeared in a major-league game since June 13. With two weeks remaining in Cleveland’s season, assuming Bieber sticks to a regular schedule of working every five days, he would have a maximum of two outings remaining. He totaled 57 pitches on Sunday, his second rehab start; obviously, he is not fully stretched out.

Civale made three rehab outings before he rejoined the big-league roster earlier this month. He has since made three starts for the Indians, and he threw 91 pitches across six scoreless innings against the Yankees on Saturday.

“As much as anything,” team president Chris Antonetti said, “it could give them the peace of mind knowing that they’re going into the offseason healthy and can have a normal offseason preparing for next season, rather than thinking about it more through the rehab lens.”

The old battery
Corey Kluber authored a vintage performance in his first outing against his old team Friday night, tossing an array of cutters and curveballs, with his hard stuff registering in the upper 80s. He logged six scoreless innings and racked up 15 swings-and-misses, good for one of his better whiff rates of the season (even better than in his May no-hitter).

Roberto Pérez, who had a front-row seat and backstage pass to Kluber’s efforts for six years, recorded a single off his former teammate. Pérez said he knew his best bet was to pounce on a first-pitch heater.

“I didn’t want to get to two strikes,” Pérez said. “He has a good breaking ball. … It was fun. He looked great, like himself.”

Injuries have limited Pérez to 37 games this season. He delivered his seventh home run Sunday as he aims to prove he can produce at the plate when healthy. The Indians hold a $7 million club option on Pérez this winter.

“Whatever decision they make,” he said, “I can’t control those things. All I can control is just proving that I’m healthy.”

First-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., who works with the team’s catchers, suggested that Pérez altered his throwing motion as he attempted to play through a fractured finger in April and that compensating in that manner took a toll on his shoulder, which ultimately sidelined him later in the season.


Corey Kluber delivers on Friday against his former team. (Andy Marlin / USA Today)
Quote to note
“That’s my office. That’s my family. I have to take care of it. Like I always say, I don’t know how to do anything else. This is my life. So, I have to give my heart to it.” — Franmil Reyes on providing energy in the dugout

Final thoughts
1. Civale grew up in Windsor, Conn., about two and a half hours northeast of Yankee Stadium and two hours southwest of Fenway Park. He rooted for the Red Sox, and he attended Northeastern University in Boston. He made his second career start in the Bronx on Saturday and said he had a host of family and friends in attendance.

“That rivalry still lives deep down inside of me,” Civale said, adding that whenever he pitches at Fenway Park for the first time, “that’s going to be a special day.”

Reyes reserved 15 tickets under his wife’s name for Saturday’s game, plus five more under one uncle’s name and four under another uncle’s name.

“They said, ‘Hey, I want you to hit (home run No.) 30 here in front of us,'” Reyes said.

He did just that, and as he trotted toward third base, he pointed to his family in the stands.

“Every time we played the Yankees or the Mets,” Reyes said, “I haven’t done anything. So I just gave them what they asked for. It was very special.”


Franmil Reyes hits his 30th home run of the season. (Andy Marlin / USA Today)
2. Here are the Cleveland teammates with 30-plus home runs in the same season, over the past 20 seasons:

2021: José Ramírez, Franmil Reyes
2019: Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor
2018: José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnación
2017: Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnación
2016: Carlos Santana, Mike Napoli
2002: Jim Thome, Ellis Burks

Ramírez socked a home run into the second deck in left field on Saturday. He smacked a home run into the second deck in right field on Sunday. In 22 career regular-season games at Yankee Stadium, Ramírez is hitting .474 (36-for-76) with nine home runs and 21 runs scored.

3. Emmanuel Clase, whom Cleveland acquired for Kluber in December 2019, threw 24 pitches Saturday. All but six clocked in at a minimum of 100.4 mph. Those six, by the way, were sliders, and all but one registered at 93-94 mph.

Clase unleashed five pitches of at least 102 mph, topping out at 102.6. He logged his three fastest pitches of the season.

Cleveland’s rookie closer has allowed one run over the past two months, spanning 26 2/3 innings. He has limited opponents to a .126/.136/.149 slash line during that stretch. Clase has made only seven appearances in September — the Indians haven’t had many games with a narrow margin of victory — but that has helped scale back his workload a bit in his first full major-league season. Then again, he demonstrated Saturday that his arm is far from fatigued.

Clase has thrown 420 pitches of at least 100 mph this season. Philadelphia’s José Alvarado ranks second with 188.

Kluber’s fastest pitch on Friday: 91.6 mph

Clase’s slowest pitch on Saturday: 91.7 mph

(Related: Clase’s sterling season, by the numbers)

4. The Indians walloped the Yankees on Saturday and Sunday, and yet Blake Parker pitched in relief in both games, which seems unnecessary and counterintuitive to the team’s bid to evaluate young talent the rest of the season. Parker, 36, also pitched in Cleveland’s 12-3 win on Wednesday.

Trevor Stephan and Sam Hentges each logged an inning on Sunday — Stephan struck out Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres and Brett Gardner in succession in the seventh — but Francisco Pérez, 24, hasn’t pitched since Sept. 12.

Along those lines, I asked Antonetti on Saturday if the team had considered promoting Anthony Gose, who hadn’t allowed a run in a month at Triple-A Columbus. Antonetti said the Indians had discussed the idea at various junctures this season, and they’re finally calling him up Monday before their doubleheader against the Royals.

Gose’s lack of minor-league options has made the decision a bit tricky; once he’s up, he can’t be demoted without being exposed to the waiver process. That said, the Indians for two years have helped him navigate the final stages of his transition from outfielder to pitcher. It’s time to take a look at what they have, especially considering he can become a free agent at the end of the season.

Cleveland Indians: Is Jose Ramirez the best deal in baseball?
by Darren Klein21 hours ago Follow @Grunttalksmlb

Cleveland Indians: Is Jose Ramirez the best deal in baseball?
In 2017, the Cleveland Indians signed their budding star third baseman Jose Ramírez to a five-year deal worth $26 million with club options for the 2022 and 2023 seasons at $11 million and $13 million, respectively.

This weekend against the New York Yankees, Ramirez had a phenomenal series. He was 6-for-10 with four walks, two home runs, one of which hit the top of the second deck in left field, and he had four RBI and a stolen base for good measure. He was the best player on the field the entire series.

The Yankees knew that he was the only one that could really hurt them and they still couldn’t stop him. Ramírez is also doing this without much help from his teammates as Franmil Reyes is the only legitimate threat in the lineup besides Ramirez. Reyes does at least provide some behind him, hitting cleanup with 30 home runs.


Ramirez is the best player per dollar in major league baseball. Since signing his current contract he has finished in the top 10 of WAR in three of the five seasons. He was top three in the MVP three times, he’s made three All-Star games and won three Silver Sluggers. He has put up incredible numbers across the board and has speed, not to mention he’s also a great defender.

This year, Ramirez has tallied 35 home runs, 94 RBI, 24 stolen bases, an OBP of .357, an OPS over .900 and an OPS+ of 144 which is 44 points above average. He also has a WAR over six and once again he will finish in the top 10. He has a fielding percentage over .950 and has nine defensive runs saved.


With 13 games left, this season is one of his best yet. Across MLB he ranks ninth in home runs, 14th in RBI, ninth in WAR, eighth in stolen bases and 12th in OPS. He is flying under the radar because Cleveland is out of the playoff picture. Without Ramirez, this team would be fighting for the last place in the American League Central. Since 2017 he has hit 143 home runs, which is around 30 per year. Over the same span he’s been able to register 411 RBI, 109 stolen bases, an OPS of .915, and an OPS+ of 140. His WAR during this time is over 27. There’s no understating how great he has been since that contract was signed.

His contract is an incredible bargain at just an average of $5 million per year and Cleveland is getting one of the best players in baseball for it. One contract it compares to is the Kanas City Royals Whit Merrifield who inked a deal for four years and $16 million dollars.

While Merrifield is a great player, he still doesn’t produce nearly as much as Ramirez. Merrifield’s WAR is 15 and he has more hits and stolen bases than Ramírez, but his power doesn’t compare. He only has 66 home runs, his OPS is under .800 and his OPS+ is 108. He also doesn’t have any top-three MVP finishes or Silver Slugger Awards. Not to mention that he is three years older than Ramírez and the only reason the contracts are really comparable is due to the cheap salaries.

At age 29 and two club options left, he will be primed for a big payday soon. The question is will Cleveland keep him? It’s been status quo for them to trade their stars before a big payday such as Francisco Lindor, Trevor Bauer, and Mike Clevinger. This could be a different situation because both sides have the motivation to keep this marriage together. Ramirez has said he wants to stay in Cleveland and they need someone to build this offense around. Only time will tell if it actually happens.