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May 18, 2018The Indians first-quarter leg of the season is a far cry from being deemed successful despite the efforts of a dynamic pair of 25 and under infielders. Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor continue to dazzle, in ways that perhaps never seemed remotely possible even three years ago. The discrepancies between their respective ascensions to stardom couldn’t be more obvious, yet each one just continues to blaze a new path forward.
Jose Ramirez worked his way through the minor league ranks quickly. A cheaply signed international free agent, he made a name for himself with his defensive versatility and a bat control skill that made scouts everywhere double take. The adulation of the Indians front office was readily apparent to anyone willing to look at his age versus minor league level. High-A ball at age 20, Double-A ball at age 21, and Triple-A ball at age 22 from a seemingly low priority prospect will raise eyebrows immediately. His initial campaign in the major leagues at only 22 years old offered little hope, though, summoning the detractors and doubters, one of which WFNY’s Joe Gerberry has since admitted to being once upon a time.
Francisco Lindor, a first-round pick dubbed as a future star the moment he set foot in the Indians organization, never had detractors or doubters, only prospect lists that rightfully adored his skill set. In recent years, however, that skill set has become slightly distorted. Billed as a prized defense-first shortstop that could hit enough to offer plenty of value, Lindor’s first few major league seasons seemed to mirror his projections. He won a platinum glove for his defensive wizardry in 2016, only to see his inherently noisy defensive metrics slide considerably since. It seems as though he has sacrificed some glove upside for a plate presence, belting 33 homers last season.
A quick glance at the Fangraphs offensive leaderboards reveals one thing – starkly different paths to the majors haven’t stopped Ramirez and Lindor from each being a top five in the major league’s caliber player over the past 1.25 seasons. Over that frame, Ramirez has posted 9.6 wins above replacement to topple Lindor’s 8.6 wins above replacement. Only Aaron Judge and Mike Trout are above Ramirez in this category. Lindor falls right behind Jose Altuve to round out the top five.
In the early portions of a 2018 season that offers great promise, stomaching the disastrous relief outings, over-extension of starting pitchers, and lackluster offensive outputs from veterans has been torturous for Indians fans. The overwhelming negatives haven’t detracted from the star Ramirez and Lindor duo, however. Even the stumbles of Evan Marshall and Dan Otero in high leverage situations haven’t been enough to hide the perpetual battle between Ramirez and Lindor. It’s as if each one just cannot fathom the thought of letting the other one shine for too long. A battle has formed, likely of the unspoken variety, to see which young gun can be “the guy.”
The hypothetical battle has reached a tipping point over the past sixteen games. The pair has combined for 33 extra base hits, with Ramirez’s pair of doubles in Tuesday’s 9-8 loss pushing him right past the 16 extra base hits from Lindor. The similarities do not cease with that statistic, either.
Each hitter has eclipsed the 2000 plate appearance mark within the last couple weeks. The wRC+ totals are strikingly similar, with Lindor sitting at a mark 122 and Ramirez treading carefully behind like LeBron pursuing a chase down block at 120. Lindor has the slight edge in career OPS, as well, with 0.839 compared to 0.837. The career walk percentage for each sits at 8.0 percent with career ISO totals sitting within three one-hundredths of each other. For two hitters to generate such high and similar career outputs over their first 2000 and change plate appearances seems improbable by itself, let alone as members of the same team who graced multiple levels of minor league ball together.
Diving into this season alone, each player has upped the ante. Both are top 12 in all of baseball in wRC+, thanks to an unrepentant addiction to hits of the extra base variety. As far as peripherals are concerned, a brief examination of the quality of contact spectrum reveals that neither Francisco Lindor or Jose Ramirez have been exceptionally lucky or unlucky. Each player’s expected results, based on exit velocity and launch angle, lie relatively close to their actual results. The power surge has been an unexpected shift.
Last year, the Lindor/Ramirez duo combined for 62 home runs in only 1368 plate appearances. To put that number in perspective, they combined for only 34 homers in 3420 minor league plate appearances. The most encouraging thing about their early 2018 success is the power surge has simply not slowed down. Jose Ramirez sat tied atop the home run leaderboard going into yesterday’s games, which made him the first Indian to lead the league in homers after 40 games since Albert Belle in 1996.1 Francisco Lindor sits one back with 12 homers, tied with Mike Trout for third in all of baseball. The only other pair of teammates to be at 12 homers or more is J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox.
Bullpen shenanigans have distorted the focus as it relates to the 2018 Cleveland Indians season. There is a pair of infielders outpacing Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in home runs, consistently reaching base, and swinging the bat every night as if they just will not allow the other to obtain a significant edge. Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are locked up through 2021 and only one of them has just recently become eligible to rent a car. Two young MVP candidates with staying power making marked improvements each year, and on team friendly contracts offers Indians brass the chance to put a routine contender on the diamond into the early 2020s.
- Editor’s note: Manny Machado hit a home run Thursday night to give him the lead, but the stat remains true nonetheless. [↩]