CLEVELAND, Ohio — The numbers don’t lie, and neither does the recognition. José Ramírez is on the precipice of cementing another milestone in what has become an undeniable Hall of Fame trajectory with the Guardians.
As discussed on the latest Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Ramírez has advanced as one of two finalists at third base for the American League All-Star team, commanding nearly triple the votes of his competitor, Alex Bregman. The significance goes beyond just another mid-summer exhibition appearance.
“This would be his seventh All Star selection, his fourth starting selection,” explained host Joe Noga on the podcast. “If he’s selected to start for the fourth time, that would be a franchise record for the Guardians. Sandy Alomar Jr and Kenny Lofton have been chosen three times as starters. Right now he’s tied with them.”
Let that sink in. Ramírez is about to surpass two Cleveland legends in All-Star starting nods. The company he’s joining at third base is even more elite.
“If he’s elected to his fourth starting job at third base… Brooks Robinson, George Brett, Wade Boggs … these are Hall of Fame guys who started at least four games by fan vote.”
Paul Hoynes’ response captured what many Guardians fans already believe: “That’s the ruling class. Those guys at the hot corner and Ramírez is knocking on the door. So, if he keeps playing the way that he has, if he stays healthy, we’ve said it time and time again, we’re looking at a Hall of Famer and we’re looking at him from day one.”
What makes Ramírez’s journey so compelling is that transformation from utility player to franchise cornerstone. His consistency at the plate, in the field, and on the basepaths has turned him into one of baseball’s most complete players — something fans across the country are finally recognizing through their votes.
Meanwhile, Steven Kwan is making a strong case for his second consecutive All-Star appearance. While he faces stiffer competition for a starting spot — currently fifth among outfielders with Aaron Judge already locked in and only two spots remaining — his all-around excellence hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“He’s had a great first half, played really good defense,” Hoynes noted. “He’s been consistent offensively, stealing some bases, showing a little pop. Definitely deserves to be an All-Star.”
Kwan’s defensive prowess has been particularly impressive, with eight outfield assists leading the American League. Add in his 27 multi-hit games, and you have the complete package that has become Kwan’s calling card.
If Kwan were to start in consecutive All-Star Games, he’d join rare company — Manny Ramirez was the last Cleveland outfielder to accomplish that feat in 1999-2000.
The All-Star voting results will soon tell us whether these Guardians stars will be starting in Arlington, but one thing is certain: José Ramírez continues building a legacy that will one day see his plaque in Cooperstown.
Want to hear more about Ramírez’s historic candidacy and the heated series finale against the Blue Jays? Listen to the full Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast for all the details on the Guardians’ All-Star candidates and much more.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes from Progressive Field where the Guardians fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 6 Nothing in the finale of a three game series. Tanner Bybee pitches, pitches his heart out, Hoynsie and has nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Blue Jays get him for three runs and add on three late runs against the bullpen. You know, what’d you see in this three game series which featured a walk off win last night for Cleveland but they were unable to finish out and win the series on getaway day.
Paul Hoynes: Joey, Interesting series. You know, the end of a six games series between the two teams. They split the six games and it’s probably a good thing that the Toronto’s leaving town, Joe, because there was some hot tempers today. There was a little tension building between the two ball clubs and you know, so it was good to get a little distance between them and if these guys don’t meet in the postseason, I guess that’s a possibility, perhaps. So they’ll all have a cooling off period until 2026 and they need it right now.
Joe Noga: Yeah, let’s get into that. The controversy stems from Vladimir Guerrero. The, the multi, multi million dollar slugger signed a huge extension to stay in Toronto and he was hit multiple times in this series by Guardians pitchers. The second time he was hit on the hand and had to leave the game in this afternoon’s game and lo and behold, Kevin Gausman who’s out there throwing eight innings of just magnificent splitters and you know, keeping the Guardians off balance. He comes out and all of a sudden loses control and Jose Ramirez gets plunked on the elbow in sort of retaliation. Absolutely in retaliation. Steven Vogt. They knew it was coming and it’s kind of refreshing to hear a manager admit instead of saying, oh well, it just happens he lost control. No, they knew that they were throwing at Jose Ramirez in that situation.
Paul Hoynes: Definitely, Joe. That’s what Vogt said. He said, you know, when, when you hit, you know, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Twice in a series, you know they’re going to come back after you. They did. They hit Ramirez with the first Gausman’s first pitch, a 95 mile an hour fastball on the forearm knocked him out of the game. They took him out in the fifth inning as they, as you know, and after Bobby had hit Guerrero, they took him out in the fourth inning. So you’ve got two all Stars, you know, knocked out of a game by, you know, getting hit by pitches and you know, there was still some, there was, there was a lot of heat going on in there because in the fifth inning, Vogt came out in the field, was kind of being restrained by the home plate umpire and he was barking at John Schneider and the Toronto dugout. And this is a great baseball thing. He goes, you know, he wasn’t, he wasn’t mad that Ramirez got hit. He was mad where they hit him. You know, if you said, you know, I’ve been around this game a long time, if you’re going to hit somebody on purpose, you hit him in the hip, you don’t hit him in the elbow or the hand where you could do some damage. And you know that, that’s classic baseball. And, you know, that’s, and that’s how, you know, really, we haven’t seen Vote get, you know, get kind of fired up in a year and a half on the job. And he was, he was into it today. He, the press conference was short and sweet, intense, and the post game press conference, I should say. And he was still, he was still, you could still, he, he had some steam coming out of his ears.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And you know, what he said was kind of true. Jose wasn’t upset when, when he got hit. He knew it was coming. And that’s, you didn’t get a reaction out of him. Vladimir Guerrero reacted. He slammed the bat down. He sort of gave a look and, and that kind of thing. And I get that too. He’s upset. He’s, you know, a guy out there earning a, you know, a 300 million dollar contract or whatever. And Bybee’s approach to the whole thing was, you know, it goes both ways.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah. Bobby was very pragmatic, said, you know, if A guy’s making $500 million, you know, if he signed a $500 million contract, which Guerrero did in April, a 14 year extension, he’s. That doesn’t mean he’s allowed to lean out over the plate. We’re going to throw him inside. That’s what Jacob Junis did on Wednesday when they hit him in the eighth inning. And that’s what I did today. You know that. And he basically said, it is what it is.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And they’re going to continue to be aggressive inside on guys like Vladimir Guerrero. Does that mean Jose Ramirez is going to continue to be the guy that gets victimized there? I kind of agree with what Steven Vogt said. You don’t throw at the head, you don’t throw above the shoulders. Throwing in on the hands is kind of dangerous because, you know, when, when fingers and wrists get, get fractured, that’s when guys miss a lot of time. You can hit a guy below the knee, you can hit him above the knee, in the rear end. That’s what Vogt wanted me to do is, is hit him in the rear end where it’s nice and nice and meaty and it stings for a few minutes and then the message is sent and that’s it, that these things police themselves and it’s taken care of. But now, you know, you hit Jose Ramirez on the wrist, that’s that, that’s sort of a different thing. That’s, you know, sort of a little, a little more aggressive, I would say.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Jose left the, left the locker room with a wrap on his wrist, up on his forearm and he told me that he didn’t think they were throwing at him. He didn’t expect to get hit. And he said because we weren’t throwing at Guerrero, so why would they throw at me? You know, was basically what he was saying.
Joe Noga: It’s going to make for an interesting locker room at the World baseball classic in 2026 when, when assuredly Guerrero and Ramirez are teammates on that roster at some point. So all very interesting the way it was handled and the way it turned out. Sparks at down at Progressive Field on a really hot afternoon. My question coming out of that game is what does Tanner Bibee have to do to get a win? The guy goes out there and pitches his heart out the last couple of times and the circus showed up today with, with a bunch of errors. He gets checked for sticky substances and has to have his, his hands washed. The umpire had a problem with him coming out for the one inning. Just what more does Tanner Bibee have to do to get a win for these guys?
Paul Hoynes: He really pitched well today, Joe. I mean, with the exception of the third inning when, you know, Kyle Manzardo went off the rails, the guardian’s first baseman, and made three errors. And that’s when Toronto scored three runs and was a 35 pitch inning, Joe. And he still kind of, you know, he kind of, he bounced back and he, you know, threw six solid innings. It was a quality start. He didn’t walk a batter, struck out three, struck out seven, allowed three runs on three hits, 96 pitches. Really kind of minimized the damage after the third inning, was very efficient and just really pitched well. But you know, this guy hasn’t won, like you were saying, since May 22nd. That was his, that’s been his last win.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And the numbers and the metrics are Going to tell a completely different story about Tanner Bibee season this year. You know, I heard Tom Hamilton say on the radio, you know, if you would watch Tanner by the pitch, you wouldn’t think that his record would be what, 4 and 4 and 7? 4 and 8 now? Yeah, yeah, it’s. It’s not a great record in terms 4 and 8. 4 and 8. You know, I got to believe the frustration is going to be building for Tanner Bibee. And since that, when we talk to him in post game interviews, just that, you know, it is frustrating when you go out there and the offense doesn’t put up any runs and, you know, you have one inning where you sort of lose. Lose the strike zone for a few batters. It shouldn’t cost you the way it does Tanner Bibee every time he goes out there.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, he was much better today. I think he was. He handled things a lot better in Sacramento when he lost the complete game. You know, he was visibly upset. He. He was, you know, that. That. You could see that bothered him. I think he was. He was a little more pleased with the way he pitched today. You know, except with the exception of the third inning, I think he, you know, he. That was more like him. You know, he didn’t throw a lot of pitches, you know, was efficient. He struck guys out, didn’t walk anybody. I think he was. He was happier with that.
Joe Noga: Yeah. You know, he signs the extension in the offseason and, you know, he’s making, you know, a good contract and good money. He’s a guy who sort of expects of himself to be the man for this. This rotation, for this franchise moving forward. And when you’re not getting the wins to sort of back that up. I could see why it would be frustrating. You know, maybe something. Maybe he just sort of reasoned with himself in between those last two starts just to sort of say, hey, I’m going out there and doing what I need to do. And that’s all he can ask of himself. But what’d you make of the umpire checking him for the rosin and the sunscreen? What was that?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it was Bill Miller, the. I’m sorry. Yeah, yeah, Bill Miller, the crew chief who was, you know, at third base working third base today. And, you know, Tanner said he had a lot of buildup of dirt and rosin on his right hand. And he said when I do that, the kind of. The hand gets dark and. And it was, you know, because of the heat today and he was sweating a lot. He said my hand was darker than usual and you know, so they, they checked him not once but twice, the fourth and fifth inning, and finally made him go wash his hands. And he goes, I swear to God, I’m not cheating. That’s what he told us. And he said, you know, that’s the first time it’s ever happened to him.
Joe Noga: Kyle Manzardo, you know, his hands could have, could have used some more sticky stuff today. It looked like bobbles here and bobbles there. We had seen him up to this point was refreshingly, sort of surprisingly playing well at first base when he had the opportunities defensively. And today it was just sort of maybe a lapse or maybe the heat. I don’t know. I don’t want to make excuses for the guy, but something wasn’t right out there in the field with Kyle Manzano.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it all started when he didn’t feel the bunt by Miles Straw in the third inning. He said he took his eye off the ball and, you know, bobbled the bunt, loaded the bases and, you know, so, you know, Bobby comes back and strikes out Bo Bichette. And then I think he surprised him with the pickoff move while he gets, I should say, he gives, then Bobby gives up the, the two run single to Nathan Lukes. And then Bobby tries to pick off Lukes. And Manzardo, I think, was caught a little unawares there. Maybe they missed the signal. And he said, I, I didn’t pick up the pickoff throw. That got by me. Then he panicked. That was his word. He’s panicked and threw home. And, you know, Bo Naylor never saw the ball, I don’t think. I think it thumped against the backstop and as Straw was scoring, you know, Straw has already scored when he let the ball go. So, you know, the runner goes to second. And that was the third error on the play. It was just, you know, you know, you felt bad for him. You see it, you see this happen sometimes, Joe, and it was just a snowball rolling down the hill and you couldn’t stop it. The last Cleveland player to make three errors in an ending in an inning was Andy Marte, a third baseman in 2010 at Fenway against the Red Sox.
Joe Noga: That’s a while ago. Yeah, Andy Marte was third base. That’s a long time ago. Yeah, these, these innings where sloppy play, you know, the ball doesn’t end up where it needs to be. They’re becoming a little bit more common, a little bit too common for this club. You know, last year they played such great defense that can be accredited to Andres Jimenez being There sort of being the Platinum glove sort anchor on that infield, but. And even Josh Naylor’s defense wasn’t terrible last year as a substitute for, for Manzardo. Right now, seeing Jimenez, seeing Ernie Clement and Miles Straw out there running down balls, and he especially did that in this afternoon’s game in the outfield, making some nice running catches. You know, he’s a gap to gap center fielder who just glides to the ball. You know, those three guys didn’t necessarily win this year, go out and capture this series or win this series with their defense or even at the plate, but, you know, they definitely contributed to Toronto getting out of here with two wins out of three games.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, no doubt about it, Joe. They can all, all, all three of those guys can play. Ernie Clement has turned into, you know, really a good ballplayer, you know, versatile guy. He’s, he’s a part of their starting lineup. You know, Jimenez has had problems obviously, staying on the field. He’s not hitting.200 yet, but, you know, there’s nothing wrong with his glove. And we all know Miles Straw, you want a gold here in center field for his playing center field here with Cleveland. He just stopped hitting for whatever reason, Joe, in Cleveland, now he’s back hitting around. 242, 245. You know, he, you know, he’s driving the ball a little bit, but, you know, there’s nothing wrong with his defense.
Joe Noga: Never question about Myles Straw’s defense or, or Clement or Jimenez with the glove in. What have you done for me lately? News. Nick Enright gets his first major league win in the thrilling victory for the Guardians in the last at bat on Wednesday night. Gets the, you know, the champagne, the beer shower and all that fun stuff. And then gets his ticket punch to Columbus because the bullpen is a little short. And so they call up Zach Kent. Zach Kent and Nick Enright. If they stood next to each other in the clubhouse, 99 out of 100 Guardians fans wouldn’t be able to know who’s who. You know, just the feeling that, you know, hey, I picked up my first win, I did everything they asked me to do, and now I’m going to be down in Columbus for at least the next 10 days.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, just. It just shows you how tough this game is, Joe. I mean, you know, it’s a numbers game. Like we were saying before the podcast, it wasn’t anything Nick Henri did wrong. You know, this guy’s got a 208 era, you know, and as you wrote this morning, he learned something from you know, the game he did, the save, he did blow in San Francisco. You know, he learned from that. He learned, you know, he used that knowledge Wednesday night to get the win pitch a scoreless 10th inning. But you need an arm. You’ve got an option. You’re going to ride the elevator for a while, you know, you’re going to go up and down and you know, I really like the way Vote handled it. They, they didn’t tell him until this morning. They, they sent him home and say with this thought in my mind, enjoy your first big league win tonight. Sleep on it, feel good about it. Then they call him in and give him the bad news. But they said Enright handled it very well.
Joe Noga: Yeah, the funny thing is I remember last night pulling out of the, the parking garage and heading up east 9th towards 90 and I passed by the players parking lot and they were holding up traffic. Nick Enright was pulling out in his truck and he was side by side with me in the, I’m in the center lane, he’s in the, the other lane and I look over and he’s got this big smile on his face. So when they, when they, you know, sent the message this morning that they were, that they had optioned him, I was like, but he had a big smile on his face last night. It was completely shocking to me that they had done this. But it makes sense now that, that votes said they told him in the morning and good on them for letting him, you know, enjoy the, the evening after his first major league win. One of the reasons why they had to do that, make that move. They’re really unsure right now about the status of Cade Smith, who reported with back spasms ahead of Wednesday’s game. What’s the latest on Cade Smith and where he is?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, he’s still day to day, Joe. He was not available today. Hunter Gaddis was, but Kate Smith is still, you know, taking it day by day with the back spasms. This is a guy, you know, I thought maybe they’d make a move with him today, put him on the il, but obviously they don’t want to. They want to try to slow play it maybe, you know, get him healthy without losing him for what, 15 days. So just it’ll be interesting to watch how he responds in the next couple days.
Joe Noga: And they’ve got a couple of guys coming back who they’re going to have to make moves to get on the roster. I think Eric Sabrowski rehab is ending by Sunday. They’ll have to make a move with Sabrowski, Trevor Steffen and Paul Seewald both should be, you know, not too far away around the same time as well. And we got an update on Shane Bieber as to the next steps for Bieber after his setback, which seems like, you know, it was just a couple of weeks ago.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, he’s going to throw another bullpen on Friday then I think Vote said they’ll reassess after that. But you know what, he threw one on Tuesday. I guess things went well. Now he’s coming back Friday, throw again. So I would think, you know, maybe a couple more of these, then you get a rehab start and, you know, start the process all over again.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And you start, you know, now it gets bumped to the other side of the All Star Game when you can expect to maybe see things progress and get really exciting for Shane Bieber. And as long as he keeps coming back and reporting back the next day after these bullpen sessions that he’s, you know, feeling pain free, then, you know, all systems are full speed ahead. Speaking of the All Star Game, some news just released Thursday evening. Jose Ramirez, Stephen Kwan advanced to two the finalists at their positions in the American League. Jose Ramirez going up against Alex Bregman and Kwon, one of five outfielders in the American League competing for two spots. Since Aaron Judge, the top overall vote getter, is guaranteed a starting spot in the outfield. There are two AL outfield spots available. Kwon fifth among the vote getters in the outfield with Riley Green, Javier Baez, Mike Trout all sort of ahead of him. So the chances are looking pretty good for Jose Ramirez. He had nearly triple the number of votes by Alex Bregman. And you know, maybe, maybe Jose’s catching on and maybe the, the baseball Collective and the consciousness is sort of recognizing just what a sensational superstar player he is. Jose Ramirez, the third most votes in the American League behind Judge and Cal Raleigh, who’s leading all the baseball and home runs.
Paul Hoynes: That’s really amazing. I think it goes to the kind of player Ramirez is, Joe. I mean, and the consistency he’s shown. You know, baseball fans are smart. You know, they, they know a flash in the pan compared to a guy that, that posts every day and does it day in and day out and season in and season out. And that’s Ramirez to a tee.
Joe Noga: Yeah, this would be his seventh All Star selection, his fourth starting selection. If he’s selected to start for the fourth time, that would be a franchise record for the Guardians. Sandy Alomar and Kenny Lofton have been chosen. Had Been chosen three times as starters. Right now he’s tied with them. So a fourth would set the franchise record. Guys, you know the names. If he’s elected to his fourth starting job, fourth, third base. Some of these hall of Fame names. Brooks, Robinson, George, Brett, Wade, Boggs, Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez. Although Ripken and Rodriguez were both shortstops too, but you know, Boggs, Robinson, Brett, these are hall of Fame guys who started at least four games by fan vote in the All Star Game. That’s the, that’s hall of Fame company and we keep saying it over and over again. Jose Ramirez is right there.
Paul Hoynes: That’s the ruling class, Joe. Those guys, those guys at the hot corner and Ramirez is, you know, knocking on the door. So, you know, I think if he keeps playing the way that he has Joe, if he stays healthy, you know, we’ve said it time and time again, we’re looking at a Hall of Famer and we’re looking at him from day one. That’s the cool thing. We’ve seen him come up as a utility guy and turn himself into, you know, a really, a really good ballplayer.
Joe Noga: As far as Stephen Kwon goes, Hoynsie, who was the last Cleveland outfielder selected to start in back to back games because at back to back All Star Games because you know Kwon was elected last year, he started alongside Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in the outfield. That’s, you know, pretty awesome. This year going to be a long shot for him to earn a starting spot. But I got to believe when the, the reserves are announced, if he doesn’t make it as a starter, he’s definitely in as a reserve.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, definitely. He’s had a great first half, played really good defense. You know, he’s been consistent offensively, stealing some bases, showing a little pop. Yeah, I think definitely deserves to be an all Star, Joe. And who was the last guy that started Manny?
Joe Noga: Was it Manny Ramirez in 9000 was the last outfielder for Cleveland elected to start back to back games. You know, what Quan’s been able to do defensively has been outstanding. I think today was his eighth outfield assist. Leading, leading at least the American League. I know for sure he’s, he’s had a great year defensively and you know, multi hit games, 27 multi hit games. Just, just been an outstanding run for, for Kwon. All right, Hoynsie, that’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. We’ll check back in with you on Monday.