Cleveland Indians’ third baseman Jose Ramirez underwent surgery on his hamate bone in his right hand, and his timetable for a return to playing is five to seven weeks from now, putting his return for the MLB postseason on a bit of uneven ground. That timeframe, provided by Dr. Thomas Graham at the NYU Langone Hospital, was reported by MLB.com beat reporter Mandy Bell, who covers the Indians.
For the Indians, their chase of the Minnesota Twins, who currently are leading the American League Central division by three-and-a-half games, need all the help that they can get, and losing Ramirez for the remainder of the regular season is a huge blow to this team. The 26-year-old third baseman had been putting together one of his better offensive seasons in his career, including having hit .313 with a 1.003 OPS over his past 59 games, a big-time contributor that will be missed in the starting lineup.
His time of return from his injury puts him right around the Wild Card weekend, which the Indians look poised to be playing in unless they are able to catch their divisional counterparts for the divisional lead. In a one-game, winner takes all scenario, the offensive contributions that Ramirez brings to the table would be an advantage for the Tribe.
In his absence, time will be split between rookie Yu-Cheng Chang and journeyman Mike Freeman, which does not jump off of the page by any means, but can provide a sense of stability for this team. In Chang’s first career MLB game, the Taiwanese shortstop went two-for-three with a triple and has seven career at-bats in the big leagues.
For Freeman, he has made stops with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016, the Chicago Cubs in 2017 and for one game in 2018, and now has a roster spot with the Indians. Freeman has the most experience out of the two options for manager Terry Francona at the hot corner, so Freeman may be counted on the most that he has ever been in his entire career, spanning nine total seasons and four in the majors.
Having six more games against the Twins to close out the season will be the deciding factor in showing if the Indians have what it takes to make that final push into the lead for the division. Having played from behind the entirety of the season, they will be without one of their best players during their final month-plus run of the regular season.
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