Stephen Vogt has a ton of decisions to make regarding how this Cleveland Guardians lineup shakes out. One of these choices is where to hit MLB superstar Jose Ramirez. Terry Francona moved J-Ram up one spot to hit second late in the season after spending years at the three-hole.
Will the rookie manager keep Ramirez where he's at, move him back, or will it very game to game?
“I've talked with Josey about it,” Vogt told Mandy Bell of MLB.com. “Wherever he feels most comfortable. Honestly, what it's going to be is once we know what our team looks like on any given night, what puts us in the best position to beat the starter.”
The nice part about this is that the Guardians have versatility no matter what direction they go in. Hitting Ramirez third in the lineup has been a successful plan in the past and having him at second is a proven concept too.
Ramirez finished with a slash line of .279/.354/.442 with an OPS of .796 when batting second at the end of 2023. The Steven Kwan-Josey-Josh Naylor trio was a refreshing look.
Kwan is going to see a ton of pitches and get on base at a high rate whether that be through base hits or walks. Naylor on the other hand proved last season that he can be the protection for Ramirez that the organization has searched for for a long time.
The fact that Vogt is open about moving players around in the lineup given the matchup is also an interesting prospect. In regards to moving Ramirez around, Vogt said, "There's some days where the lineup is gonna be better with him in second and there's gonna be some days where the lineup's better with him in third, and just hopefully he feels comfortable with either one.”
We'll have to wait to see where Ramirez is slotted in come Opening Day. However, it's never a bad thing to have versatility and options. Vogt clearly plans on taking advantage of that throughout the season.
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