Jose Ramirez slumping at the wrong time

The Cleveland Baseball Club third baseman has been in a slump for quite some time and it is not helping any potential playoff hopes.

The Cleveland Baseball Club is clinging to playoff hopes and need everyone they can to step up and contribute. Unfortunately one key player in their lineup has not been a whole lot of help as of late, Jose Ramirez.

From a season perspective the numbers for Jose Ramirez do not seem all that bad, a 124 WRC+ along with a .254/.341/.505/.846 super slash. While the 19 home runs and 52 RBI on the season are impressive, his performance over the last 20 games has not been something to write home about. During that span Ramirez has slashed .191/.304/.368/.671 with a WRC+ of just 80. What is not helping is that his BABIP has dropped from his season average of .242 to just .192 during this time along with isolated power also decreasing from .251 to .176.

Focusing on just the month of July the numbers for Jose Ramirez look much worse. That slash line drops to .179/.304/.282/.586, a WRC+ of 63, ISO to .103, with BABIP rising to .207. The one bright spot in the month of July is the solo home run off of Anthony Swarzak in a 14-6 win over the Royals on July 10th.

Everyone is very aware of what kind of hitter that Jose Ramirez can be. At his best he can be one of the most productive hitters in baseball. The problem is that for the majority of the season that is not what he has been. If Cleveland is truly going to stay alive in the playoff hunt they are going to need Jose Ramirez to come alive sooner rather than later. Preferably that time would be prior to the trade deadline so the team can accurately assess where they are in the playoff hunt and make moves as necessary.