Jose Ramirez finished the 2016 season red-hot
The Indians’ utility player, Jose Ramirez, entered 2016 without a starting job but soon become an invaluable member of the lineup, deputizing for left fielder Michael Brantley and the scuffling third baseman Juan Uribe.
He progressed from starting the fantasy season undrafted to finishing as a top-40 hitter according to the ESPN Player Rater, with the same score as roto-darling Starling Marte.
The plan is for the 24-year-old to be the Indians’ primary third baseman this season, but this could change if he is forced into the outfield if Michael Brantley is not ready for Opening Day.
Dominate with our award-winning fantasy baseball draft software 
It is difficult to explain how good Ramirez was last season. Third base is a phenomenal position at the moment, yet Ramirez ranked eighth, ahead of Todd Frazier, Evan Longoria, Anthony Rendon and Matt Carpenter. In the outfield, he ranked 14th, ahead of Carlos Gonzalez, Yoenis Cespedes and J.D. Martinez.
Despite only hitting .219 AVG in 2015, there was a sense that the rookie could develop into an impressive hitter, partly based on his near 1-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. He has always had speed, averaging 28 stolen bases over the last four years across all levels.
He emulates teammate Michael Brantley in extraordinarily high contact rate (88.8%), exceptionally low swinging strikeout rate (4.9%) and he led the league with 84.4% contact outside of the strike zone. Unlike Brantley, who hit just six home runs in his age-24 season, Ramirez has already recorded double-digit home runs and looks to have the power potential for many more.
The Lineup
With the departure of Rajai Davis, Jose Ramirez could lead off against left-handers and then drop to fifth or sixth when Carlos Santana leads off against right-handers. Cleveland was top-five in runs scored and that was without arguably their best hitter, Brantley. The Indians made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason by signing Edwin Encarnacion, and if he can come close to repeating his 2016 production of 42 home runs, 127 RBI and .357 OBP, then Ramirez, like all of the Indians’ hitters, will benefit.
The Expectations
As with all young players, it will be difficult to follow up a career year, and the industry is expecting regression. In 2016, he slashed .312/.363/.462. The projections are expecting a drop to .283/.336/.419. The switch-hitter finished the season with a flourish, hitting .339 AVG (.910 OPS) over the final two months. If he can start 2017 the way he ended 2016, then perhaps the projections will prove to be a little pessimistic.
The Value
It is almost certain that Ramirez will not finish 2016 in the top-10 in home runs or RBI, and he only has an outside shot of finishing there in runs or stolen bases. He is, however, an accumulator with a dynamism that will keep him in Terry Francona’s lineup every day. Currently, he is ranked 123rd by the Expert Consensus Rankings and this is almost mimicked by the 126 ADP. Postseason baseball always increases the profile of underrated players, so it will be difficult to draft Ramirez at a value, although if you believe there will be minimal regression, then a repeat of 2016 will see Ramirez become established as a top-100 fantasy option.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | TuneIn | Google Play
Gavin Tramps is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Gavin, check out his archive or find him @_tramps.
