Jose Ramirez expected to play Opening Day

After his status for Opening Day was up in the air, Cleveland Indians All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez is expected to play.

The Cleveland Indians needed some good news in the worst way and may have gotten some Wednesday. As long as there is not a setback, Jose Ramirez is expected to play on Opening Day. This is per Zack Meisel of The Athletic.

This comes after Jose Ramirez exited a game earlier this week after fouling a ball off of his leg. Ramirez left the field on a cart since he was unable to walk off under his own power. After a few days of rest and evaluation Ramirez appears ready to take his normal spot on the field and in the lineup.

Cleveland really needs Ramirez to be able to play. The Indians are already without Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis to start the season. Those are two key bats in the lineup that will be absent to start the year. A lineup without Jose Ramirez would not strike fear in the hearts of opponents. There is no need to worry at this time since it appears that Ramirez will play.

The presence of Jose Ramirez in the Indians lineup will be crucial to their success this season. Especially considering the massive roster overhaul that took place this offseason. Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Brantley are now elsewhere. This means that the burden of driving in runs will fall squarely on the shoulders of Carlos Santana, Ramirez, Lindor and Kipnis rather than spread out a bit more evenly across the lineup. Well that is at least the expectation considering the current construction of the roster.

The benefit of the early season schedule is that there are two off days between Thursday and Tuesday, the off days being Friday and Tuesday. This will give the Indians and Ramirez plenty of time to monitor his health in the early going. The last thing Cleveland needs is for this injury to linger on into the season.