Jose Ramirez belongs in the AL MVP conversation

Cleveland Baseball Club third baseman Jose Ramirez has proven that he belongs in the conversation for the American League MVP Award.

Early on this season it did not appear that Jose Ramirez was going to be in the conversion for the American League MVP Award. Thanks to a hot streak which has seen Ramirez’ slash line skyrocket, Ramirez is firmly in the conversation for the AL MVP.

Entering Wednesday, Jose Ramirez is slashing ..423/.474/.962 with a 1.435 OPS over his last 14 games and leads all players in Fangraphs WAR with 3.2. Something that teammate Mike Freeman poked fun at himself at when ESPN’s Jeff Passan mentioned that fact. Ramirez standing where he does currently is impressive considering where he was at the end of August. Ramirez had a slash line of .230/.328/.434/.813 on August 24th, it has mostly gone upward since.

Then there is the aspect of where would the Cleveland Baseball Club be without Jose Ramirez this season? More than likely they are not a playoff team and may have considered an in season trade of Francisco Lindor. Ramirez has propelled the offense and been a relatively steady presence in the lineup for Cleveland. Even if he wasn’t having the best luck at the plate, teams were still cautious pitching to him as all it takes is just one pitch for him to catch fire.

Speaking of catching fire, sometimes there is the “What have you done for me lately?” or a signature moment to make a difference when it comes to who wins awards. Enter Jose Ramirez in the bottom of the 10th inning on Tuesday. Ramirez hit a walk-off three-run homer (his 17th of the season, third-most in the AL) which sent Cleveland back to the postseason. How is that for a signature moment?

With Jose Ramirez scorching hot right now that could play a factor that leads to him receiving more votes than if he was only performing at his average clip. Jose Ramirez may not win the award, but he at least belongs in the conversation.