Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez had an incredible season even though he played the entire second half with torn ligaments in his thumb.
The All-Star third baseman slashed .280/.355/.514 with 29 home runs and 126 RBI.
He also stole 20 bases and accumulated 6.2 Wins Above Replacement, or WAR.
He does a lot of things well on a baseball field (you could say almost everything), but his plate discipline is really the one thing that sets him apart.
Ramirez struck out in just 12 percent of his plate appearances, with the league average being over 20.
You see a 12 percent strikeout rate and you think about contact-first players with little to no power: you just don’t associate that number to a man who just hit 29 home runs and 44 doubles.
Ramirez has extensive knowledge of the strike zone, and this particular stat proves it.
“José Ramírez struck out looking only 6 times all season long!” Codify Baseball tweeted.
José Ramírez struck out looking only 6 times all season long! 😮
cc: @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/CEouJeYdYb— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) November 13, 2022
An Incredible Knowledge Of The Strike Zone
In just six separate occasions, opposing pitchers threw good enough pitches to freeze J-Ram.
Just six times, they were good enough to make him think they were throwing balls when their pitches actually went through the strike zone with two strikes.
It’s an amazing, and incredible stat at the same time.
Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in professional sports because it’s more than just hand-eye coordination.
Working the count puts you in a position to get better pitches to hit, and Ramirez is a master of the zone.
It sounds easy: lay off balls, swing at strikes and make some damage.
It’s much, much more difficult than words, though, and there may not be a better player in MLB better than him at those “simple” tasks.
NEXT: The Guardians Show Off 2 Young Elite Defenders