The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Tribe loses seventh of past nine games
Indians begin trip with four games in Minnesota
Jose Ramirez has been hitting well while showing versatility in the field by filling in at second base while Jason Kipnis mends a shoulder injury. David S. Glasier has the story.
After his latest tour de force, the temptation is to say that, pound for pound, there aren’t many players in the big leagues better than Jose Ramirez.
On April 15, in the middle game of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field, Ramirez set the tone at the plate in a 13-6 victory that snapped a three-game skid for the Indians.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound second baseman was 4-for-4 with a pair of threerun home runs. He raised his average from .270 to .341 in the process.
Despite a slower-than expected start this season, the 24-year-old native of the Dominican Republic went into the series finale against the Tigers on April 17 leading the team with 12 RBI, and second with hits (14) and total bases (25).
Ramirez continues to display his versatility with the glove, too, having moved from third base to second base with starting second baseman Jason Kipnis on the mend from shoulder soreness that has sidelined him since spring training.
Indians manager Terry Francona discounted the “pound for pound” label for Ramirez.
“I don’t think hanging adjectives on him is really necessary from where I sit, other than we know he’s a really good player,” Francona said.
Signed by the Indians in November 2009 as an undrafted free agent, Ramirez
made his first big splash in 2012 with the full-season Single-A Lake County Captains. Promoted to the Captains in late June that year, he batted .354 in 67 games and teamed with shortstop Francisco Lindor to propel the Captains to a playoff berth in the Midwest League.
He opened the 2013 season with Double-A Akron and made his major-league debut with the Indians that season in September. After splitting the 2014 and 2015 seasons between the Indians and Triple-A Columbus, Ramirez had a breakthrough 2016 season with
the Indians. He batted .312 in 152 games with 11 home runs and 76 RBI as the Indians claimed their first American League Central Division title since 2007 and got to the 10th inning of Game 7 in the World Series before losing to the Chicago Cubs.
As manager of the Indians since 2013, when Ramirez made his big-debut, Francona has had a bird’s-eye view on the of one of the most productive, versatile players in the game.
“As he gets going in his career and stays healthy, it will be really interesting
to see where this goes for Jose,” Francona said. “He does want to be one of the elite players in the game. It will be fun to watch him on his growth getting there.”
Impressed
Francona is pleased to have Lonnie Chisenhall’s bat back in service since he came off the disabled list on April 13 after being sidelined since spring training with a right shoulder strain.
In is first three games back from the DL, Chisenhall was 5-for-11 with two home runs (including a pinch-hit grand slam) six RBI and four runs scored.
He was out of the lineup on April 16 as the Tigers went with left-handed starter Matthew Boyd.
Just as important about Chisenhall’s return, Francona added, is getting his glove and arm back into right field and center field.
The 28-year-old Chisenhall was moved from third base to right field in August 2015 after Francona and the Indians’ brain trust decided he could not be their everyday third baseman.
“For a guy who hasn’t been very experienced in the outfield, one of the things that’s been a little surprising is his ability to get behind the ball,” Francona said. “That’s one of the hardest things to learn for guys who haven’t been out there. They won’t go fullspeed. They’ll glide a little bit and you always see them catching it going back.
“Lonnie has been so good from they very first day getting behind that ball and making tougher plays easier and being ready to throw,” Francona added.
And then there’s the power and accuracy of Chisenhall’s arm.
“His throwing action from the outfield is phenomenal,” Francona said.
Streaking
Francisco Lindor’s linedrive single in the bottom of the first inning of the series finale against Detroit ran his hitting streak to 10 games. That matches his career high.
Kipnis update
Kips continues his rehab stint with Triple-A Columbus, starting at second base in a home game against Louisville on April 16.
Francona said Kipnis will stay with the Clippers when they resume play on April 18 with the start of a threegame road series against the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) IronPigs.
Road tripping
The Indians open a fourgame series in Minnesota against the Twins on April 17. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. The game will be televised on SportsTime Ohio and broadcast on WMMS-FM 100.7. From the Twin Cities, the Indians will be off to Chicago to begin a three-game series against the White Sox on April 21. They’ll be back at Progressive Field on April 25 for the opener of a three-game series against Houston.