Cleveland Indians Jose Ramirez: Waiver Wire Add
By Brad Kelly
Jose Ramirez has been on fire for the Cleveland Indians this season. Should fantasy owners start to take notice and make him a waiver wire add?
The Cleveland Indians are in the midst of trying to secure a AL Central crown, yet have had to do it without their best hitter, Micheal Brantley. But one thing they did not foresee was that utilityman, Jose Ramirez, would step up and ease the loss of production.
Ramirez has been with the Indians since 2009, and since his debut with the club in 2013, he has proven to be a quality Swiss army type of player. While he has not proven to be a player to be known for his bat, his performance at the plate this season has opened some eyes.
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He had a rough 2015, batting only .219 with a .631 OPS, especially in only 97 games played, so fantasy owners had him well off their radar. Coming into this season, it was curious to see how the Tribe handled their outfield with no Brantley for the most part, but Ramirez seems to be the answer so far.
In 2016, Jose Ramirez has a, .300/3 HR/19 RBI/4 SB/.827 OPS line, in 42 games. Underneath those solid surface numbers is a great contact rate, further shown through his 15 K/15 BB ratio. His career high in homers is six, so to see him have three already combined with his 11 doubles, is encouraging to say the least when it comes to his OPS.
With his contact rate, he should be able to easily eclipse the 10 SB mark, but he does need to improve his success rate. On the season he is four out of seven in SB attempts, so there is definitely room for improvement. Fantasy owners should expect him to stay active though, as he has at least 11 SB attempts each of the last two seasons.
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Another benefit of owning Jose Ramirez is that he should also have MI eligibility. Thus, owners can look to him that supply MI help too, as my colleague Bill Pivetz wrote about in this article. He is poised to eclipse his career highs across the board, making him a sneaky upside add. Owners should feel comfortable adding him and skill set to their lineup, as he is proving to be be on the upswing.