Guardians share big Jose Ramirez injury update amid frustrating homestand

The Cleveland Guardians had an opportunity to create a bit of separation in the American League Central standings amid their 10-game homestand. Instead, Cleveland dropped two straight games to the rival Chicago White Sox (47-42) to finish the homestand with a 5-5 record.

Before Cleveland suffered a 7-6 defeat at Progressive Field on Sunday, Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti gave a positive update on injured slugger Jose Ramirez.

Jose Ramirez has thus far "met or exceeded all of those checkpoints" amid his recovery

"It's really individual specific," Antonetti said about Ramirez's recovery from needing to have a portion of the hamate bone in his left hand removed, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "It's how well the recovery site heals, how much discomfort they have over the surgery site and when they can progress to activity. So far, Hosey has met or exceeded all of those checkpoints along the way. So hopefully we'll be on the shorter side of that. But again, he still has a lot of activity or a lot of boxes to check between now and then."

The Guardians improved to 39-33 on the same day that Ramirez went down. To compare, Cleveland ended the holiday weekend at 47-44 and one game back of the White Sox in the division standings. The Guardians will next open a three-game series at the Minnesota Twins (44-47) on Tuesday evening. 

According to Joe Noga of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Guardians have played in a major league-leading 31 one-run games this season. Fifteen of the club's last 30 games were decided by a single run, and eight of Cleveland's 10 contests during the homestand were decided by two runs or fewer.

The Guardians are expected to be buyers ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, but getting Ramirez back should also provide a needed boost. Over his first 72 games of the campaign, he was batting .239 with 10 home runs, 33 RBI and 24 stolen bases.

Guardians have "continued room for improvement" as they wait for Jose Ramirez's return

"We know we have our work cut out for us," Antonetti added about the Guardians. "There's still a ways to go before we get to the break, and we know we need to continue to try to find ways to string together some wins. Our pitching staff has done a really good job of giving us a chance to stay in almost every game. We've found a way to score just enough to keep our heads above water. Obviously, there's continued room for improvement on both sides of the ball, but yeah, hopefully we can continue to find a way to win."