Guardians’ José Ramírez Undergoes Off-Season Thumb Surgery to Repair UCL
José Ramírez’s off-season has gotten off to a rough start.
The Cleveland Guardians’ All-Star third baseman underwent thumb surgery Wednesday morning at Dayton’s Kettering Health to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament. Dr. Thomas Graham performed the hand operation, which went as planned.
Ramírez suffered the injury in June and played hurt for the remainder of the 2022 season, including the postseason. He’s scheduled to resume baseball activities in six to eight weeks and expects to be ready for spring training. His right arm, however, will remain in a sling for the time being.
The 30-year-old could’ve opted to undergo surgery in July but chose to delay it in favour of helping his team win its first AL Central Division title since 2018 – 11th overall. Impressively, the three-time Silver Slugger still enjoyed one of the most impressive performances of his career.
In 157 games, Ramírez blasted 29 home runs and drove in 126 runs, which were second-most in the AL behind Aaron Judge’s 131. They were also second-most in the majors, with Judge and Pete Alonso tied for first.
The four-time All-Star also finished first in doubles (44) and intentional walks (20), fourth in fWAR (6.2), fifth in isolated power (.235), sixth in slugging percentage (.514) and 11th in wRC+ (139) among qualified AL hitters, according to FanGraphs.
Additionally, Ramírez hit .280/.355/.514 with 20 stolen bases across 685 plate appearances – his highest total since 2018 (698) – with the Guardians.
Ramírez also helped lead his franchise to an ALDS berth against the New York Yankees, slashing .333/.344/.500 with three extra-base hits (one home run), four RBIs and a 136 wRC+ across 32 plate appearances in seven postseason contests. It wasn’t enough, unfortunately, as the Guardians fell 5-1 in Game 5 of their second-round series.
With that, the Dominican native failed to make his triumphant return to the World Series for a sixth straight postseason. The last time he appeared in the WS was when the Chicago Cubs heroically rallied back to win Game 7 at Progressive Field.
In the regular season, the 5-foot-9 corner infielder has posted 192 home runs, 666 RBIs, a 128 wRC+ and a .279/.354/.503 slash line over 1,137 career games in 10 big-league seasons. He’s also been worth 41.2 fWAR since debuting in 2013 – 11th-highest in the majors among position players.
Cleveland’s talented switch-hitter has finished top three in AL MVP voting three times since 2017 but is still searching for his first career trophy. The veteran slugger placed sixth in MVP voting in 2021.
The Guardians signed Ramírez to a seven-year, $141-million contract extension on the eve of Opening Day 2022. His deal features a $20.1 million average annual value, a full no-trade clause and runs through 2028.
Everyone expects Ramírez to recapture his MVP form if he stays healthy next season, hopefully leading his team to a second consecutive division title in an uncertain AL Central.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.