Latest news with #JoséRamírez
Axios
a day ago
- Sport
- Axios
Guardians down, but not completely out at All-Star break
The Guardians have pulled off surprises before, but this year feels different. Why it matters: Cleveland entered the MLB All-Star break in fourth place in the American League Central with little hope of making a postseason run. It's a big disappointment after making it to the American League Championship Series last season. Driving the news: The Guardians have one player in Tuesday night's All-Star Game in reserve: Steven Kwan. José Ramírez was elected as the AL's starting third baseman but has opted not to play. By the numbers: Cleveland is 12 games back of the first-place Detroit Tigers and 4 1/2 games back of the AL's final Wild Card spot. The biggest problem is the lineup. Cleveland ranks 26th out of 30 teams in runs scored, 29th in batting average and last in hits. Between the lines: The team has also been without ace pitcher Shane Bieber, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. He's making a rehab start this week. Pitcher Luis Ortiz is on leave while being investigated for alleged gambling. What they're saying:"I believe in this team," manager Stephen Vogt said after a recent loss. What's next: The Guardians kick off the second half with a three-game series against the Athletics on Friday at Progressive Field.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fantasy Baseball: Here's who would make our AL and NL All-Star teams for fantasy so far this season
The actual All-Star teams have already been announced and fans have had plenty of time to dissect each selection. For those of us who feel passionately about fantasy baseball, here are the players who would populate the All-Star lineups if first-half fantasy production was the sole criteria. American League Cal Raleigh, C, Mariners: Raleigh's 38 homers are the second highest first-half total in MLB history and more than double the total of any other catcher this season. He is more dominant at his position than anyone else in this article. Advertisement Cody Bellinger, 1B, Yankees: Bellinger's 3-homer, 6-RBI effort on July 11 pushed him to the front of a mediocre group of AL first basemen. The 30-year-old has rebounded from a slow start with a .638 OPS at the end of April and a .910 mark since May 1. Ceddanne Rafaela, 2B, Red Sox: A late-round pick who entered the season with a lifetime .664 OPS, Rafaela has produced the highest OPS (.796) of any qualified Red Sox hitter and could finish the season as a 25-25 player. José Ramírez, 3B, Guardians: Ramírez has thus far been immune to a down year from the Guardians offense. He could reasonably finish with a 30-40-.300 stat line. Advertisement Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals: Witt's year-over-year OPS has dropped by 78 points, but he's still plenty good enough to make this list. A second-half power uptick would put him back among the top-5 hitters. Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees: The No. 1 fantasy asset, Judge has an excellent chance to win the AL Triple Crown. Maintaining his 1.194 OPS would give him the best single-season mark since Barry Bonds in 2004. Riley Greene, OF, Tigers: Talk about a breakout season — Greene has exceeded the RBI total and matched the homer mark that he produced in 137 games last year. Byron Buxton, OF, Twins: After years of teasing fantasy managers, Buxton is finally staying healthy and maximizing his incredible skill set. Pete Crow-Armstrong is the only player who is ahead of Buxton in both homers and steals. Advertisement Brent Rooker, DH, Athletics: Rooker is well on his way to a third straight 30-homer season, making him one of baseball's most consistent power hitters. Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers: Skubal sits no lower than 3rd this season in wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. Since 2023 he has logged a 2.43 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 483-65 K-BB ratio. Garrett Crochet, SP, Red Sox: Crochet has been everything the Red Sox could have expected, leading the Majors in strikeouts while sitting second in ERA and third in wins. Josh Hader, RP, Astros: Hader is tied for the AL lead in saves and is one of five pitchers in baseball to have at least 10 saves and five wins. He also has the most strikeouts (65) of anyone with multiple saves. Advertisement National League Will Smith, C, Dodgers: Smith's OPS dropped in four consecutive seasons before surging up by 206 points this year. Remarkably, he ranks third among the star-studded Dodgers lineup in fantasy production. Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets: Alonso has earned this spot by doing exactly what he was expected to do – lead all first basemen in homers and RBI. His .280 average is a nice bonus. Ketel Marte, 2B, D-backs: Marte narrowly gets this nod over Brice Turang by being a more effective power hitter whose skill set plays better in points leagues. He missed nearly a full month and could still match his career-high 36 homers from 2024. Advertisement Eugenio Suárez, 3B, D-backs: Since the 2024 All-Star break, Suárez trails only Judge in RBI and ranks 4th in home runs. And Suárez is no longer a batting average drain. Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds: Arguably baseball's most exciting player, De La Cruz is also a balanced fantasy contributor who ranks among the top-10 in steals and runs while also placing 14th in RBI and 26th in homers. Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Cubs: PCA is the breakout player of 2025, fully maximizing his exciting skill set to rank 3rd in overall fantasy production while sitting among the top-7 in homers, runs, RBI and steals. Kyle Tucker, OF, Cubs: Tucker has been everything the Cubs and fantasy managers hoped for. Expect more elite production as he speeds towards being the marquee free agent of the upcoming offseason. Advertisement James Wood, OF, Nationals: In an otherwise disappointing season, Wood has been a bright spot for the Nats. His .915 OPS ranks 8th in baseball, and he will be a first-round fantasy pick in 2026. Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers: Ohtani is on pace for fewer than half of his 2024 steals total and still ranks as the No. 2 overall asset. Judge is the only player within 18 of his league-leading runs scored total (91). Zack Wheeler, SP, Phillies: With a 2.86 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over the past five seasons, Wheeler is the most consistent ace in baseball. This season, he is a top-10 player in all four standard pitching categories, which includes ranking second in WHIP and strikeouts. Advertisement Paul Skenes, SP, Pirates: The Major League leader in ERA, Skenes is being held back by a Pirates team that has given him enough support to earn just four wins. Edwin Díaz, RP, Mets: There are three NL relievers who have more saves than Diaz, but none of those men can match his ERA (1.66), WHIP (0.87) and strikeout total (55).
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
How the Guardians can climb back into contention in the American League
CLEVELAND — As of Sunday evening, FanGraphs assigned the Cleveland Guardians a 10.7 percent chance of snagging a playoff berth. Those are the 11th-best odds among the 15 teams in the messy, crowded American League. So you're saying there's a ch— it's not going to be easy. Only the Chicago White Sox and Athletics are really, truly out of the wild-card race. The Orioles have been mired in the AL East basement for a while and, rightfully, seem like soon-to-be sellers, but even they're only a few games behind the Guardians. Advertisement There's time to make a move, though. So, let's ignore those playoff odds for a moment and chart a path back to legitimate contention for the 46-49 Guardians. Oh, well, that seems easy enough. The Guardians own the 28th-best OPS in the league, ahead of only the White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. Beyond All-Stars José Ramírez and Steven Kwan, their next most dependable hitter is … Kyle Manzardo? After that, um, Nolan Jones, maybe? Carlos Santana? This shouldn't be so difficult to answer. The lineup has been begging for some fresh blood for weeks. For this exercise, that can't remain the case. The Guardians have been playing at a self-designed disadvantage. Even if Chase DeLauter and/or C.J. Kayfus endure a rocky transition to the majors, they'd still offer more of a threat at the plate than, say, Will Wilson or Johnathan Rodriguez have (assuming DeLauter checks out OK this week once he's evaluated for wrist soreness). The upside, on the other hand, is that the Guardians have better answers to the prompt above. If they have to move on from Santana to create space for a big league-ready prospect, that might be beneficial both in the present and future tenses. Santana has a .688 OPS and 40 birthday candles to blow out next spring. Steven has the second half in his crosshairs.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWins — Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 13, 2025 So, find a role for DeLauter or Kayfus, and start plotting how Juan Brito can help in September. Give daily opportunities to Manzardo and Jones, and anyone else finding a rhythm. Pray that Lane Thomas can get healthy and find his old ways. And, hey, don't be afraid to get a head start on the offseason to-do list and survey the market for a controllable hitter this month. After all, it's not like they're magically going to arrive at spring training in 2026 with nine everyday starters ready to form an offensive juggernaut. Advertisement This is a front office that, no matter the team's position in the standings, likes to entertain such a trade. In 2021, for instance, as they shipped out César Hernández, Jordan Luplow and Eddie Rosario, they tried to convince the Pirates to hand over Bryan Reynolds. Instead, they acquired Myles Straw. Whoops. It's looking like a mid-August return for Bieber, who is scheduled to start in the Arizona Complex League on Tuesday. If he avoids further setbacks (and assuming he opts out of his 2026 option), the Guardians will pay him $14 million for, oh, about eight starts. If they can tack on some postseason assignments to his workload, they'll deem it a sufficient investment. The rotation has carried this team for weeks, and that must continue. Since June 1, Cleveland's rotation ranks fifth in the majors in ERA. Slade Cecconi has flourished. Gavin Williams has taken steps forward. Tanner Bibee, the de facto ace entering the season, has the highest ERA in Cleveland's rotation, though he has expressed confidence in recent weeks that his output will improve the rest of the way. If Bieber can deliver anything close to what Matthew Boyd provided last year upon his return from Tommy John surgery — and if Luis Ortiz doesn't set foot in Progressive Field again in 2025 — a quintet of Bieber, Bibee, Williams, Cecconi and Logan Allen should be solid enough. In this scenario, there's no Emmanuel Clase trade, because the Guardians need to lean on their bullpen the way they did last season. Contenders have been inquiring about his availability, and the Guardians could mull whether it's worth flipping him for some future lineup help. But in this exercise, the club can claw back into the race in part by delaying a potential Clase trade until winter, when he'll still have three years of team control remaining. Advertisement No, instead, the Guardians would keep Clase for the summer and fall and trust that he, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith can repeat their dominance from a year ago in the second half. Of course, those are unfairly lofty expectations; the 2024 bullpen was historically proficient. This is where the loss of Andrew Walters to season-ending surgery, Franco Aleman's Triple-A struggles and Tim Herrin's inconsistency are proving costly. All three were intended to provide mid- or late-inning insurance this year. Instead, there's been a lot of Matt Festa. Cleveland's lineup isn't talented enough to fuel the team to frequent lopsided wins, so if the Guardians are going to get on a roll, they'll be regularly summoning their top relievers to protect narrow leads. They need more than three consistent relievers for that sort of task. Nic Enright and Erik Sabrowski deserve more opportunities to gain entry to Stephen Vogt's circle of trust. Paul Sewald, now healthy, will factor into the equation. This team, however, could still use another arm in high-leverage situations, whether a more efficient Herrin or Joey Cantillo, or even an outsider. (Don't look up Trevor Stephan's Triple-A stats if you have a sensitive stomach.) It wouldn't be the worst idea to scour the relief market and see if anyone piques their interest, either a rental who wouldn't cost anything substantial, or a long-term option (think the Royals' acquisition of Lucas Erceg last summer) who could stick around if Clase is dealt over the offseason. They rebounded from their 10-game skid with a strong road trip through Houston and Chicago to close the half. Now it's time to flex their muscle against what should be inferior competition. They have three against the Athletics, four against the Orioles, three at the Royals and three against the Rockies to close out July. Can they go 9-4? There are winnable series in August, too, against the Twins, White Sox, Marlins, Braves, Diamondbacks and Rangers. And, sure, those same teams are noticing the Guardians on their schedules and thinking, 'Hmm, here's a chance to win a series against a feeble opponent.' But all the Guardians have to do is follow this foolproof plan, and they'll make those clubs feel foolish for underestimating a team that toyed around in the first half only to turn it on when it matters most. They'll force them to watch as they speed past the Royals and Rangers and Twins and Angels and Rays and Mariners and anyone else standing between them and a ticket to October. What could go wrong? (Top photo of Steven Kwan (38) and José Ramírez: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Forbes
2 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Six MLB Players Earn Bonuses For Being Named To The All-Star Team
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodríguez hits a two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fifth ... More inning during a baseball game, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) It's officially the MLB All-Star Week, with festivities already underway in Atlanta and the Home Run Derby tonight. There are 81 players who have been named All-Stars this season, including all the players participating in the game or replaced due to injury or unavailability. Six of those 81 All-Stars will receive contract bonuses for making the roster, adding up to $425,000 in total. Such bonuses became a source of controversy when Philadelphia Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez was passed over in favor of Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who has only made five starts in the Majors. Sánchez lost a contract incentive that would've paid him $50,000 for making the All-Star Game, but the Phillies will give him the bonus amount anyway. Three players triggered $100,000 bonuses, including one who isn't going to be on the field in Atlanta. Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez was voted in as the starter for the American League squad, but he opted out of the game. He's batting .297/.367/.510 with 18 home runs and 29 stolen bases this year. This is his fifth-consecutive All-Star nod and seventh overall. Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom is one of the oldest All-Stars, joining Aroldis Chapman of the Boston Red Sox and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only 37-year-olds on the rosters. He'll add a $100,000 bonus to his $40 million base salary this year for making his fifth All-Star Team. He has a 2.32 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP this year over 19 starts. Freddy Peralta, ace of the Milwaukee Brewers, will also receive a $100,000 bonus for making his second All-Star appearance. He leads the National League with 10 wins and has a 2.74 ERA over 19 starts. Two of deGrom's former teammates with the New York Mets picked up $50,000 bonuses. Francisco Lindor was elected as the starting shortstop for the National League. This is his fifth All-Star appearance, but surprisingly his first since 2019. He was not chosen for the All-Star Team last season, even though he finished as the runner-up in the MVP race. Lindor will be joined by Mets closer Edwin Díaz, who has a 1.66 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 38 innings. He's in the third season of a five-year, $102 million deal—the first nine-figure contract ever signed by a relief pitcher—and he will gain another $50,000 for his third All-Star selection. The player with the smallest All-Star bonus of the six who have them in their contracts is Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez, but it could lead to a significantly more lucrative payout. He will receive $25,000 being chosen as an All-Star reserve, but he has a unique player option in his contract that's partially based on All-Star appearances. Rodríguez signed a 12-year, $209.3 million contract that runs from 2023-2034, including a player option for 2030-2034 that's worth $18 million per year. However, the value of those option years increases to $20 million per year if he accrues eight combined All-Star selections and Silver Slugger Awards from 2022-2029, and $22 million per year if he achieves 10 of them. This is his third All-Star Team inclusion so far, and he has already won two Silver Sluggers.
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Guardians sweep Astros with back-to-back homers from Martínez and Ramírez
José Ramírez homered for a third straight game, Angel Martínez also went deep, and the Cleveland Guardians got a 4–2 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep. It's the first time the Guardians, who entered the series on a 10-game skid, have won three in a row since a four-game winning streak from May 21–24. Slade Cecconi (4–4) allowed five hits and two runs with a career-best nine strikeouts in 7-plus innings for the win. Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. Martínez homered for a second straight at-bat with his shot to the Crawford Boxes with one out in the first inning. His grand slam with two outs in the 10th inning Tuesday night lifted Cleveland to a 10–6 win. Four pitches after Martínez's homer Wednesday, Ramírez also connected off Brandon Walter (1–2) to make it 2–0. Walter settled in after that, retiring the next 17 batters with seven strikeouts before Bennett Sousa took over to start the seventh. Ramírez and Carlos Santana hit consecutive singles with no outs in the inning before David Fry walked to load the bases. Johnathan Rodríguez then singled to score two and extend the lead to 4–0. The Astros had managed just four singles when Taylor Trammell walked with no outs in the eighth and scored on a double by Mauricio Dubón that cut the lead to 4–1. There were two outs in the inning when Jose Altuve's RBI double made it 4–2. The AL West-leading Astros went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position to cap this disappointing series, which came after they swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend. Key moment: Martínez and Ramírez had back-to-back homers in the first. Key stat: Ramírez, who dropped out of next week's All-Star game Wednesday to rehab a nagging Achilles injury, has four homers and seven RBIs this month. Up next: LHP Logan Allen (5–7 4.07 ERA) will start for Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox Thursday night. The Astros are off Thursday and haven't announced their rotation for their weekend series against the Rangers.
