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Cleveland’s José Ramírez was electric in 2020 to say the least. Across 58 games, he hit 17 home runs, stole ten bases, scored 45 runs, drove in 46 and slashed an excellent .292/.386/.607. He’s the most dangerous power and speed threat at the third base position in fantasy baseball in 2021, and he’s being drafted as such. Ever since he had that rough streak in 2019, he’s been absolutely fantastic. If you take his numbers from 2020, and equate them to over 162 games, you come up with the following stat line:
47 home runs, 27 stolen bases, 125 runs scored and 128 RBI
In the first 85 games of the 2019 season, Ramirez was hitting just .218 (.234 BABIP) with seven home runs, 18 stolen bases, a .126 ISO and a soft 36.4 percent hard contact rate.
In the second half of the year, he turned it on, hitting .327 (.302 BABIP) with 16 home runs, six stolen bases, a .412 ISO and an impressive 47.9 percent hard contact rate.
If we take the second half of the 2019 season (Starting July 12th) and combine that with his numbers from 2020, this is what we are looking at for the star Cleveland infielder.
.307/.377/.664 with 33 home runs, 34 doubles, 74 runs scored, 94 RBI and 16 stolen bases
Pretty good for a full season, right? Absolutely, however, that’s over 101 games. Only 101 games!
Most of his batted ball metrics were on par with recent years, but two big things jump out. First, his barrel rate ballooned to 10.2 percent. His previous career best was back in 2018 when he posted an 8.3 percent mark. Additionally, his launch angle jumped to 23.2 degrees, the highest of his career, and marks the fifth straight season this mark has increased. Over the years, his launch angle has jumped from 12 degrees to 13.2 degrees, to 15 degrees, to 19 degrees, to 19.8 degrees and then to 2020’s 23.2 degrees. Despite his average exit velocity taking a slight downturn, it didn’t happen on fly balls and line drives, which we love to see.
Courtesy of Baseball Savant
His strikeout rate was up a bit, in fact at a career high, and overall, his whiff rate was slightly up and zone contact was slightly diminished.
He swung at more pitches in the strike zone but made significantly less contact. That’s noteworthy, sure, but he’s far from marks that are worrisome. He’s still an elite hitter with excellent contact metrics, and to be honest, we’re just nitpicking with Ramirez.
Interestingly enough, when you look at Ramirez’s batted ball metrics, it compares quite favorably to another elite fantasy season put up in recent years. Take a look here.
Any idea who player A is? It’s José Ramírez ’s 2018 campaign! All Ramirez did that year was hit .270 with 39 home runs, 110 runs scored, 105 RBI, and 34 stolen bases. The numbers aren’t too terribly far off across the board, and we saw earlier what his 2020 stat line would have looked like if it was a full season, and health willing of course.
Ramirez is the best power and speed combination at his position and he warrants his current average draft position, which currently sits at pick number 10.33 in NFBC formats. He’s the first third baseman off the board and could end up being the only one that hits 30 home runs and steals 20 bases. In fact, per Steamer projections, Ramirez is one of just four third baseman projected for double-digit steals, and the only projected for more than 20!
Ramirez provides such an advantage at the third base position, because across the board, his marks are elite. Using Steamer projections, he projects to be in the top five at the position in home runs, runs scored, RBI, stolen bases, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, wOBA and wRC+. He’s excellent in every category and gives your squad a massive advantage at the third base position, and an all-around great start to your fantasy baseball draft.
Statistical Credits:
Fangraphs.com
Baseballsavant.mlb.com
nfc.shgn.com/adp/baseball