Which Jose Ramirez am I discussing, you ask? No, not the other eight professional Jose Ramirez’s… but the Cleveland Indians stopgap between Asdrubal Cabrera and Francisco Lindor.
FranLind has been extremely impressive– he’s already got 2 successful Double-A go-rounds under his belt at 19 and 20 totaling 400+ at-bats (.280+ AVG and 30 SB). While the historical HR/Isolated-Slugging isn’t ideal, currently (and briefly) at Triple-A, he’s mashing to the point where it’s not even worth presenting his stats. And still he’s only 20.
So the Francisco Lindor contingency is out of the way. Next up: Asdrubal Cabrera. Supposedly the Blue Jays are showing interest in acquiring Asdrubal and he makes sense for their 2b-slot. While we’ve seen the best of him, his 80+% contact rate and 15/10 HR/SB at middle infield is an asset to many teams.
If Asdrubal does get dealt, that should open the door for Jose Ramirez as the interim Cleveland shortstop. In very limited big league experience (even in 50 PA this year), Ramirez has shown off his impressive contact rate: currently at 90%. Not only that, but his BB/K ratio approached 1.00 in the minors: .92 (A), .93 (AA) & .83 (AAA). He’s a .285/20 SB threat as soon as next year if he somehow consumed enough playing time.
There is little reason (at the moment) for Cleveland to bring up Lindor, other than a September show-case, so if the Indians do trade Asdrubal, pick-up Ramirez for some SB and OBP. Heck, I don’t know, maybe they test him atop their lineup in place of Asdrubal/Mike Aviles so Kipnis-Brantley-Santana follow him, and he could provide you with some runs in that scenario as well.
Based on the discipline and ground ball approach with speed, it’s possible for an inflated .320 BABIP and therefore the following: .280AVG, .340 OBP, .680+ OPS. The lack of power will keep his overall OPS down, but with some stolen bases and luck he could be a nice late-season addition for a magical run at the Tigers in real life terms; and a magical run at the top spot in your leagues in fantasy terms.
…If Asdrubal is traded.
No statistical matrices in this post. You’re welcome.
Follow Dano on Twitter @Rotobanter.