‘Good luck trying to get him out’: J-Ram climbs club ranks during career-best hitting streak

CLEVELAND — José Ramírez’s excellence is on display each and every game for the Guardians. Monday night at Progressive Field, that was evident in multiple ways.

Ramírez continued his march up Cleveland’s franchise leaderboards in the series-opening 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. With a pair of doubles, the Guardians third baseman passed Joe Sewell for the fourth most in franchise history (376).

When he came around to score on a Kyle Manzardo single in the sixth, Ramírez passed Jim Thome for fifth in franchise history in runs scored (929). What’s more, with his 2-for-4 night against Los Angeles, Ramírez extended his hitting streak to 19 games (setting a new career high) and extended his on-base streak to 23 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. (22 games from April 8 to May 1) has the longest hitting streak in the Majors this season.

“It’s unbelievable,” starter Gavin Williams said. “You really can’t get anything by him. He hits good pitches. I guess good luck trying to get him out, really.”

Ramírez’s first double was proof of that concept. Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw him a 2-2 splitter that dove below the strike zone. Ramírez got his bat on the 90.6 mph offering and dropped it in front of right fielder Teoscar Hernández, before hustling to second and sliding in safely.

Yamamoto’s splitter is his bread and butter, and that pitch was 0.68 feet off the ground when Ramírez struck it. That’s the fifth-lowest pitch he’s recorded a hit on in his career; the lowest he’s recorded an extra-base hit; and the lowest for an extra-base hit in MLB this year.

“Hosey is one of the best hitters on the planet,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “The adjustability, the ability to take any pitch at any time and get it out there. He’s smart, calculated. He’s a tough out.”

In the eighth, Ramírez doubled on a 96.0 mph four-seamer by Tanner Scott that was on the outer half of the plate.

During his hitting streak (since May 6), Ramírez is slashing .387/.446/.667 with seven doubles, one triple, four homers and 11 RBIs. He had a .265/.318/.436 slash line in 32 games beforehand; he’s now up to a .313/.367/.526 line this season.

“I think you put in the work in the offseason, and I know the results might not come right away,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero this past weekend in Detroit. “It’s just a matter of keep going, and you’ll see the results are going to show up. And fortunately, they’re showing up.”

Even on Sunday, when Tarik Skubal shut out the Guardians on 94 pitches and struck out 13, Ramírez delivered quality at-bats. He extended his streak with a seventh-inning single and also flew out to deep left-center field in the fourth. But it’s not just the surface numbers that stand out during his strong stretch.

• Through Monday, Ramírez has 29 hits over the 19-game streak and has swung and missed just 17 times. He’s also collected more than four times as many hits than strikeouts (seven).

• Ramírez is hitting the ball harder during this stretch. His average exit velocity during his streak is 90.5 mph; his season average was 88.5 mph entering Monday.

• His hard-hit rate is up to 47.1 percent; it was 37.6 percent entering Monday.

“It doesn’t matter who it is,” left fielder Steven Kwan said. “He obviously put some great at-bats up against Yamamoto. He put some great ones up against Skubal. I feel like that’s how I know him. He can put up any kind of at-bat against any kind of pitcher.

“It’s almost weirder when he’s not doing what he does now. So I think that just speaks to his consistency. It’s a lot of fun when he’s like this. Hopefully we can capture that momentum.”

Ramírez accounted for two of the Guardians’ six hits in Monday’s loss. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base, while Williams struggled with command and issued a career-high six walks in 4 2/3 innings and was charged with four runs.

Will Wilson (who went 0-for-1 with a sacrifice and a walk on Monday) has seen how Ramírez works day in and day out since being promoted to the Guardians on April 22.

“Yeah dude, it’s impressive,” Wilson said. “He’s one of the best in the game for a reason. Mentally, he takes every rep like it’s Game 7 in the World Series.”