Guardians Takeaways: José Ramírez’s Injury and What Comes Next

Ramírez suffered a fractured left hamate bone and is expected to miss five to seven weeks, potentially returning before the trade deadline. Jason Miller / Getty Images

CLEVELAND — Guardians manager Stephen Vogt wouldn’t reveal an official timetable for José Ramírez’s return from a fractured left hamate bone, but he acknowledged the typical recovery period is five to seven weeks.

A six-week absence would have Ramírez returning to the lineup in the last week of July, shortly before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Admit it: You can already envision team president Chris Antonetti uttering the line, “Getting José back is better than any possible trade addition.”

Here are a handful of thoughts on where the Guardians go from here.

1. Ramírez broke his right hamate bone in late August 2024. The team projected he would miss five to seven weeks, but he returned in 30 days and slugged a grand slam and a three-run homer in his first two at-bats. That season, Cleveland was vying for a wild-card berth, and Ramírez returned for the final week of the season. Once the club was booted from the race, he was shut down.

“We don’t want him to rush it, because we don’t want him to be less than 100 percent,” left fielder Steven Kwan said, “but obviously, we need him back as soon as possible.”

The hamate bone is a pest. It’s a small, hook-shaped inconvenience located in the palm beneath the pinky. Any swing can irritate it. Kwan joked that he doesn’t swing hard enough to fracture his hamate, but the bone has been a thorn in the side of the wrist for a slew of players this season. In fact, Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino underwent hamate surgery on Sunday.

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll and New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor both had hamate surgery on Feb. 11. Both returned in time for Opening Day on March 26. Baltimore Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday underwent hamate surgery on Feb. 12, but didn’t return until May 19 because of lingering pain. A benefit for the Guardians: One of the weeks Ramírez could miss is the All-Star break.

As for whether he felt disappointed about the injury, Ramírez said, “That’s part of life.” He said that on his final swing Saturday, he heard a pop and his hand started hurting, “so I knew there was something off there.”

2. The injury has a reputation for sapping hitters of their power for an extended period of time. Ramírez was having a down year in the power department as it was, on pace for only 23 home runs.

He was, however, leading the American League with 24 stolen bases, quite a feat for a 33-year-old. He was on pace for 41 doubles. He was inching closer to becoming the ninth player in MLB history to record 300 homers and 300 stolen bases. He needs five more home runs to join that club, but he’ll have to pause his pursuit of history. He also had started all 72 of the Guardians’ games.

Ramírez was a long shot for AL MVP, but with Aaron Judge also sidelined for an indefinite stretch, the race is more open than usual. With one of his patented surface-of-the-sun hot stretches, Ramírez could have vaulted himself into the conversation alongside Yordan Alvarez, Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Kurtz, Ben Rice and Byron Buxton.

3. The Guardians are hopeful Angel Martínez will be ready to return to the lineup Tuesday in Milwaukee. He avoided broken bones when he fouled a ball off his left foot on Saturday.

Chase DeLauter’s status is murkier. He underwent an MRI and a CT scan Saturday night. The Guardians could place him on the 10-day injured list with bruised ribs (or whatever else the imaging revealed) and backdate it to Sunday, if they want.

Without Ramírez, DeLauter and Martínez for Sunday’s planned home game against the Detroit Tigers, Vogt planned to hit Brayan Rocchio second instead of his customary ninth, Kyle Manzardo third and David Fry sixth and starting in right field. Gabriel Arias returned from the IL to assume Ramírez’s roster spot at third base and bat eighth. However, the game was postponed due to the weather.

“When you take a steady guy out like José, it’s going to be all hands on deck,” Vogt said. “We’re going to mix and match until we can find the right recipe.”

Arias and Daniel Schneemann figure to handle most of the third-base duties, though it’s possible Fry could also play there. Arias hadn’t completed his rehab assignment, so Vogt said he’s not yet ready to play nine innings every day.

4. Even with position players dropping like bowling pins, the Guardians moved back into a tie for first place in the AL Central with a win Saturday against the Tigers. They’re 6-0 against the Tigers this season, and with one more win, they can clinch the tiebreaker against their division rival. The Tigers are 29-42, and every loss pushes them one step closer to being sellers at the deadline and to removing a threat in the Guardians’ bid to win a third straight division title. The Royals and Minnesota Twins don’t seem like teams worth worrying about. The Chicago White Sox, on the other hand, are pesky.

The Guardians and White Sox will meet for the first time this season next week in Chicago. The White Sox will visit Cleveland the first weekend of July.

5. The media contingent on hand at Progressive Field on Sunday morning resembled one typically reserved for Opening Day or a playoff game. The anticipated presence of NFL star and new Guardians minority investor Travis Kelce, along with his significant other, might have had something to do with that. As the throng of reporters arrived in the Guardians’ clubhouse about three hours before first pitch, however, every player disappeared into the team lounge.

Were they gathering for a rah-rah speech to inspire the group in the wake of Ramírez’s injury? Was Austin Hedges going to deliver a memorable sermon they could reflect on in late September after clinching a division title?

Nope. They were discussing MLB Players Association topics with a union representative. This team typically doesn’t need motivational speeches. While Ramírez’s injury is a gut-punch, the Guardians are no strangers to in-season adversity.

They’re three weeks from reaching the one-year anniversary of when the league placed pitcher Luis Ortiz on paid leave while investigating his alleged involvement in a pitch-rigging scheme. A few weeks later, the Guardians lost perennial All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase for the same reason, after Clase had operated in a business-as-usual manner even with his alleged co-conspirator sidelined.

“This group is so resilient,” Vogt said.

If they can keep it together for the next five or six weeks with some glue and duct tape and paper clips, they can prove to the front office that this roster is worth supplementing at the trade deadline, and not just with Ramírez’s eventual return.

“Someone’s going to have to step up,” Kwan said, “but we still have our brand of baseball that doesn’t rely on one person, so we just have to continue that and make sure people aren’t trying harder. That’s all you can control. When you lose a top guy, it’s hard, but you can’t reinvent the wheel at the same time, either.”