Jose Ramirez

Jose Ramirez’ quest for 40 may have led to slump

Cleveland Indians second baseman Jose Ramirez found himself in an uncharacteristic slump to end the season. Unfortunately that slump lasted into the postseason and was held hitless in Cleveland’s early playoff exit.

During the month of September Jose Ramirez’ batting average was a disappointing .185. This is hardly the level of production the Indians second baseman displayed throughout the year. Additionally Ramirez’ on-base and slugging percentages were .330 and .337 respectively. Excluding the two games in March, September was his worst month of the season. A potential reason for this is that Ramirez wanted to hit 40 home runs.

On The Baseball Tonight Podcast it was said that people outside the Indians organization felt that Ramirez was pressing which led to this slump. Coming into September Ramirez had 37 home runs and could realistically hit 40 or more. Unfortunately Ramirez did not hit his first home run of the month until September 12th. Ramirez’ second came on the second to last day of the season. Ramirez ended the season with 39 home runs, a career-high, but not the 40 home run milestone that many seek.

When a player is in a slump to end the season it does tend to carry over into the postseason

Jose Ramirez slumped to end the year and slumped in the playoffs. The Houston Astros held Ramirez hitless in 11 at-bats. Ramirez did walk once and strike out three times during the series. While some credit does belong to Houston’s pitching staff, Ramirez was in an all out slump. When Ramirez is at his best he is putting the ball in play, getting on base and avoiding strikeouts. None of this happened in the Houston series.

Ramirez has had to work hard his entire life to get where he is, proving many people wrong along the way. When someone like Ramirez slumps, it can get into their head which can prolong said slump. This appears to be exactly what happened here. It appears that Ramirez was trying so hard to improve his performance at the plate that he may have in fact been trying too hard. Trying too hard can lead to even more struggles.

Ramirez should come back as his normal self next season. This means that Ramirez’ lackluster performance dating back to the beginning of September may not happen. Ramirez is an excellent hitter at the plate and his performance in April though August shows just that. Even if a better overall performance at the plate means less home runs, Ramirez will surely take that in exchange for a potential World Series victory.

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