José Ramírez (infielder)

José Enrique Ramírez (born September 17, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball third baseman for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He signed with the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent on November 26, 2009, and made his MLB debut on September 1, 2013.

In 2009, at the age of 17, Ramírez and other unsigned prospects traveled to the Cleveland Indians' Dominican facility in Boca Chica, where an Indians scout noticed Ramírez.

He signed with the Indians, receiving a $50,000 signing bonus.

Ramírez sat out the 2010 season and made his professional debut in 2011 with the Arizona Indians of the Rookie-level Arizona League.

He batted .325 in 48 games played.

He then played for the Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League.

In 2012, he played for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League and Lake County Captains of the Class A Midwest League.

The next year, he started the season with the Akron Aeros of the Class AA Eastern League.

The Indians promoted Ramírez to the major leagues on September 1, 2013, and he made his MLB debut that day.

He entered the game as a pinch runner during the ninth inning and scored on a game-winning grand slam hit by Mike Avilés.

Ramírez recorded his first major league hit on September 9 against the Kansas City Royals, when he lined a single to left field off of Royals starter Ervin Santana during the third inning.

Later in that same game, Ramírez also collected his first multiple hit game in the major leagues, working a single off reliever Wade Davis during the seventh inning.

Ramírez began the 2014 season in the minor leagues and had a batting line of .319/.363/.484 in 105 plate appearances.

He was promoted to the major leagues on May 1, as Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis went on the disabled list.

Ramírez was sent back to the minors on May 20, after Kipnis was reinstated.

However, Ramírez was recalled before July 23.

Ramírez began to get regular playing time at shortstop on July 31, 2014, after the Indians traded shortstop Asdrúbal Cabrera.

He hit his first home run on August 9, in his first career three-hit game.

Ramírez finished the 2014 season by hitting .262 in 237 at-bats.

He compiled 62 hits and also had 10 steals, tied for fourth-most on the team.

In 2015, Ramírez made his first Opening Day roster.

He started on Opening Day, batting ninth and playing shortstop.

He also started the Indians home opener on April 10.

Ramírez went 1-for-4 in the team's first game at newly renovated Progressive Field.

Ramírez, and the Indians, struggled during the first half of the 2015 season.

The team fell to last place in the AL Central during June, and Ramírez would be sent down to the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League during that span.

After being called back up for the second time on August 3, Ramírez would play much better, hitting .250 over the second half of the season.

He closed out the 2015 season by hitting .280 in September and October with 21 hits.

He also had a power surge in September, hitting four home runs while setting his career high for home runs in a single month.

In 2016, Ramírez achieved then-career highs of a .312 batting average, 46 doubles and 22 stolen bases while playing second base, shortstop, and left field, in addition to third base.

He also helped lead the Indians to its first World Series appearance in 19 years.

As a result, Ramírez was named winner of the Bob Feller Man of the Year Award (the equivalent of the team Most Valuable Player award) for the first time, and received the award again in 2021.

Ramírez is a five-time selectee to the MLB All-Star Game, a four-time Silver Slugger Award award winner, and a two-time selectee to the All-MLB Team.

In 2016, Ramírez hit .312/.355/.423 as of July 8, 2016.

He became the first player during 2016 to hit in every spot in the lineup when he batted fourth on June 28.

Ramírez had also played four positions this year: second base, third base, shortstop, and left field.

In 2017, he became the 19th player in history to hit at least 56 doubles in one season, while leading the major leagues.

In 2018, he hit 39 home runs and stole 34 bases to enter the 30–30 club.

Born in Baní, Ramírez played baseball in the Dominican Prospect League.