José Ramírez Is Baseball’s Most Consistent Superstar

Since his breakout season of 2016, Ramírez has been the poster boy of reliability. He’s tallied five seasons with an fWAR above 6.0, with two of them being north of 7.0. He’s a six-time All-Star and a four-time Silver Slugger.

While he’s never been able to actually win an MVP, he does have five finishes inside the top five. That includes a runner-up finish in the shortened 2020 season.

Arguably, the most impressive part about Ramírez’s game is how well-rounded and flawless it is. Especially at the plate, there are really no holes to his game. His strikeout rate has never climbed above 17%, and in all but one season, it’s been under 15%. His career wRC+ sits at 131 while the OPS is a dazzling .859.

Power? Check. Ramírez has hit 20 or more home runs in seven seasons, with three of those being 30-plus homer campaigns. Lastly, on the offensive side, Ramírez is a legitimate stolen base threat, something a lot of superstars can’t necessarily claim.

If you think Ramírez is strictly an offensive star, you’re mistaken. He’s continued to hold it down at the hot corner for years. Outside of one down year with the glove (2020), he’s finished every season with a positive Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and Outs Above Average (OAA).

After the outlier year, Ramírez bounced back with the best defensive showing of his career, finishing with 10 DRS and 8 OAA. A bounce-back like that is just one example of Ramírez’s ability to adapt and improve, something absolutely necessary to become a true great of this game, a Hall of Famer.

If you go back to the start of 2016, José Ramírez has been a top-five player in the game, without a doubt. In that time, he holds an absurd slash line of .286/.360/.523 with a wRC+ of 136. He’s launched 260 long balls with 854 RBIs and 243 stolen bases in that time, good for an fWAR of 53.1.

That’s good for the fourth best mark in all of baseball, placing him comfortably ahead of future Hall of Fame inductees such as Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Jose Altuve, and Freddie Freeman. The only guys better than him? Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, and Francisco Lindor.

Who’s Father Time?

At the end of the day, baseball is a “what have you done for me lately?” sport. Ramírez, now in his thirties, is showing no signs of decline. If you look at the numbers, he might be getting even better.

In 2024, he tied his career high of 39 home runs and stole 41 bags. He was just one bomb shy of a 40/40 season, a rare feat, and even then, it barely got national attention. When it was all said and done, he posted 6.5 fWAR and was the backbone and leader of a good Guardians team.

Fast forward to 2025, and he’s playing even better. As the season nears its halfway point, “J-Ram” is slashing .324/.385/.543. His batting average would be his career high across a full season.

He’s already launched 13 home runs and stolen 20 bases. If he continues at this pace, Ramírez should have a good shot at posting the best fWAR of his career.

As a matter of fact, Ramírez was ranked third in the latest hitter power rankings put out by Major League Baseball. With only two guys ahead of him, one could make a real argument that he’s been the best position player in the league up to this point in 2025, outside of Judge, of course.

Time for Recognition

If it weren’t for Judge being on a different planet this year, the league would be buzzing about Ramírez’s absurd start to the year. Casuals will say that Rafael Devers has the best bat, Matt Chapman has the best glove, or Manny Machado has the best arm, but Ramírez puts all three together every single year.

He does everything you could dream of on a baseball field, every season, without any of the spotlight or hype. He’s never been flashy, just simply elite. It’s long overdue for the rest of MLB to stop overlooking the talent we have on our hands.

José Ramírez isn’t just a superstar. He’s the most consistent superstar in baseball and has been for a decade.