José Ramírez will walk into Rate Field on Wednesday with Cleveland down two games to none, carrying both the weight of an injured left wrist and the expectation that has followed him through his entire Guardians career. Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the White Sox begins at 4 p.m. ET, and Cleveland needs more than one big at-bat to climb back into this series. Still, when the moment arrives, Ramírez remains the player everyone in the visiting dugout will be watching.
The Guardians have managed only seven hits in 61 at-bats through the first two games, a .115 club average, and they are 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Ramírez is part of that cold spell, without a hit so far, though he has drawn a pair of walks. For a lineup that has struggled collectively, the spotlight naturally lands brightest on its longtime third baseman and most accomplished hitter.
That is the bargain for a player of Ramírez’s stature in Cleveland. A seven-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger and the club’s unquestioned on-field face, he is expected to change a game with one turn at the plate. His standing in the city has put him in rare company, alongside names such as LeBron James and Bernie Kosar, with Superman thrown into the conversation for good measure. When the Guardians need a defining October swing, fans expect No. 11 to supply it.
A season shaped by the hamate injury
Ramírez entered this postseason after a difficult regular season by his standards. In 125 games, he hit 12 home runs, drove in 53 and posted a .688 OPS, his lowest figure since 2015. The turning point came June 13 against Detroit, when he fractured the hamate bone in his left hand.
The initial expectation was an absence of roughly six weeks. Ramírez came back in five weeks and one day, a quick return for an injury that can linger long after a player is cleared to rejoin the lineup. The power did not immediately return: he hit only two homers over his final 53 regular-season games after coming off the injured list.
He has said the discomfort in the left wrist is something he expects to manage through the rest of the year, with a fuller recovery of his power possibly not arriving until Spring Training. Ramírez has not used that as a shield. “It has been hard,” he said. “Some days feel better than others, but that is not an excuse. The goal is to compete and try to win.”
Manager Stephen Vogt sees the same stubborn competitiveness every day. Vogt said those who know Ramírez understand how badly he wants to deliver in a big spot, but acknowledged that the wrist has made this season a difficult one for him.
“You never write José off,” Vogt said. “He is giving us all he has. He has not been fully healthy since June, but he is always one swing away from finding it.”
Chicago has been a good place for Ramírez
The postseason record has not yet fully matched Ramírez’s regular-season résumé. Before the 2026 playoffs, he owned a .240 average and .692 OPS in 45 career postseason games. There have been flashes: a walk-off homer against Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the 2022 AL Wild Card Series, and the Game 4 home run against Detroit in the 2024 ALDS that helped Cleveland even that series. But he has not yet built the kind of extensive October highlight reel associated with the game’s most celebrated stars.
That is why every plate appearance in this series feels enlarged. The Progressive Field crowd brought its familiar “Jo-sé” chant through the first two games, even as the offense stalled. The hope remains that the next trip to the box will become the at-bat Cleveland remembers.
Chicago offers a promising setting for that possibility. Ramírez has hit 23 home runs at Rate Field as a visiting player, more than any active Major Leaguer. Only Miguel Cabrera, with 26, has hit more there as an opponent.
Vogt has not seen his leader change despite the pain, the quiet start to the series or the questions that inevitably gather around a star in October. “José is still José,” the manager said. “He remains our leader and our best player. I believe he is going to come through for us.”
The Guardians need the entire lineup to wake up if they are going to extend their season. But in a must-win Game 3, with Cleveland chasing its first World Series championship since 1948, there will be no mistaking whose swing could alter the mood of the series in a hurry.
