Cleveland Indians star and local hero Jose Ramirez has had himself quite a week.
First came his walk-off sacrifice fly Sunday to take down the Toronto Blue Jays and salvage what was becoming an ugly series.
He kept the magic going a day later as the Indians played a second straight doubleheader Monday.
Ramirez launched a two-run blast in the third inning that ultimately allowed the Indians to cling to a 3-1 lead en route to victory.
The home run, which was Ramirez’s 13th of the year, allowed him to make a little bit of franchise history.
José Ramírez's last 162 games for the @Indians:
47 doubles
3 triples
48 homers130 RBI, 118 runs scored
68 BB, 102 K
.289 batting average
.363 on-base percentage
.618 slugging percentage22/27 stolen bases
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) June 2, 2021
Climbing The Leaderboards
Ramirez is now ranked 14th all-time in Indians franchise history with 140 career home runs.
He recently passed Francisco Lindor at 138 and his latest home run broke a tie with Grady Sizemore at 139.
That is quite the group of fan favorites right there.
Next up is Joe Carter at 151 home runs.
Jim Thome tops the list at 337 with almost a 100-homer lead over Albert Belle.
Ramirez has only been an everyday player since 2016 and essentially lost a normal season of stats in 2020, but still managed to hit 17 home runs in the shortened year.
With his 2-run homer, José Ramírez passes Grady Sizemore for 14th all-time in franchise history. 🐐#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/Obp1Ole4aj
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) May 31, 2021
His career-best is the 39 he hit in 2018.
The third baseman is now challenging that mark with a hot start in 2021.
Other Notable Climbs
Ramirez is not just climbing up the home run leaderboard.
He is currently 19th in WAR with a chance to pass both Manny Ramirez and Omar Vizquel this year.
Overall hits is where Ramirez still lags behind, as he ranks 47th with 889.
Just like in home runs, he is about to pass Lindor on that list as well.
Based on his normal pace, Ramirez should be able to get to 1,000 career hits this season.
Out of those 889 hits, 225 have been doubles.
That is good enough for 20th all-time in Indians history as Ramirez has been a true doubles machine the past few years.
The 56 he had in 2017 was a mind-boggling amount.
Ramirez can truly be an all-time franchise great if the team can keep him around on a new contract.
He already ranks 48th in Indians history for at-bats, and can easily be top 10 all-time if he decides he wants to stay in Cleveland.
Of course, the Indians have to offer him a fair deal for that to happen.
Ramirez is only 28 years old and still doesn’t even have 900 hits to his name.
This is a perennial MVP finalist who, if the Indians keep him around, would likely have his number retired by the team one day.
Can he reach Thome at the top of the home run leaderboard?
That may be too tall a task, but Ramirez could certainly pass Belle’s mark of 242 for second place.
But stats aside, leading the Indians to a World Series would be the one thing that would truly cement Ramirez as a Cleveland legend.
Continuing to put up great numbers only helps that cause in 2021 and for as long as he sticks around.
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