Opposing pitchers just can’t seem to stop throwing Jose Ramirez “home run pitches.”
The Cleveland Indians star launched another home run Thursday night to up his total to 11 on the young season.
That has him alone atop the American League heading into play Friday night.
Who is atop the American League home run board on May 14th?
You know, bro.#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/CmgmCsSriZ
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) May 14, 2021
At this rate he could go for 50 if pitchers keep serving him up meatballs.
The Star of the Show
Ramirez is a legitimate MLB superstar and it is funny to see stories pop up about him being a darkhorse MVP candidate.
He has finished at least top-3 in the voting three times since 2017 and arguably should have won the award over Jose Abreu in 2020.
The third baseman is now set to shatter some of his own personal bests.
His career-high in home runs came back in 2018 when he had 39.
Top dawg in the AL 😏#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/s8MWdhAulP
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) May 14, 2021
He drove in 105 runs that year and is already at 22 this season.
The interesting thing is that while Ramirez is hitting so many bombs, he only has four doubles this year.
His career-high of 56 doubles is going to be tough to top at this current pace.
But fans will take clutch home runs over random double any day.
Ramirez hit a two-run blast Thursday night that pushed the Indians’ lead up to 4-0.
That hit proved to be useful as the Mariners did cut the score to 4-2 later in the game.
He appears headed for an automatic All-Star Game berth in 2021 and is once again making it clear why he deserves a long-term extension.
The name of Jose Ramirez is already a big one in Cleveland and his legend would only grow further if he was kept for the remainder of his career.
The Consistent Bat in the Lineup
The Indians are still getting sporadic contributions from everyone on offense outside of Ramirez and Franmil Reyes.
So it makes perfect sense that both hit home runs to help the team win Thursday night.
Reyes himself has nine home runs and could easily fight atop the leaderboard all season with his teammate.
The two are carrying the load while new arrival Eddie Rosario continues with his slow start.
That could have the veteran in trade rumors if he doesn’t turn things around soon.
However, his value may be too low if that is indeed what his future holds.
But let’s circle back to Ramirez.
He is behind only Ronald Acuna Jr. for the MLB-lead in home runs and is an early American League MVP favorite.
One of his top competitors is Shane Bieber as the Indians remain a top-heavy team in terms of talent.
The loss of Francisco Lindor has allowed Ramirez to slide into the superstar role and he has responded nicely.
Maybe he will truly have an MVP season that will force the front office to act and make him happy.
Fans can only dream.
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