Jose Ramirez made a seismic shift in his game late last season. For the first time since 2020, he slotted into the two-hole in the Cleveland Guardians batting order.
Former manager Terry Francona explained why he decided to move Ramirez up and the rationale does make a lot of sense.
"I know (Ramirez) likes hitting third, he always has, but I talked to him. We're trying so hard to make teams pitch to him because if they do, he's such a good hitter. And with (Gimenez) heating up a little bit we can spread him and Kwan out. I just think that with Kwan on first, I just think there's a chance that he'll get pitched to a little bit more."
Clearly, the goal here was to sandwich Ramirez between two good hitters which would force opposing pitchers to throw him more favorable pitches. Steven Kwan would be on the front end of that and someone such as Josh Naylor directly following Ramirez.
Cleveland's new manager Stephen Vogt now has a decision to make as he takes over managing the Guardians. Will he continue to bat J-Ram second or move him back to hitting third?
Ramirez finished with a slash line of .279/.354/.442 with an OPS of .796 when batting second in the lineup. These numbers were slightly lower compared to when he hit third in the lineup, but slotting Jose second still is the best option for Vogt and the Guardians.
Kwan has gained a reputation as being one of the best contact hitters in the game. He rarely strikeouts out which is crucial if you're hitting in front of Ramirez.
The correlation between Naylor and Ramirez hitting back-to-back was one of the biggest bright spots for the Guardians last season and shouldn't be touched whatsoever. This duo thrives together and Naylor could blossom hitting third as well.
Naylor also unfortunately missed time after Ramirez made the switch to batting second which put a wrench ninth eorignal plan. Ramirez took off once Naylor made his return to the lineup.
Yes, the Guardians need to do some serious work to their lineup in order to make it a playoff contender. However, a top three of Kwan-Ramirez-Naylor could be one of the best in the American League.
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