Analyzing Jose Ramirez's 2022 season and his chase to make history in Cleveland at third base

Jose Ramirez is chasing his first career Most Valuable Player Award in 2022, having already been a finalist three times. He's also in line to put up one of — if not the — best season by a Guardians position player in the franchise's history.

Ramirez has been in the midst of the best season of his career, entering Thursday hitting .302 with a .393 on-base percentage, a 1.023 OPS, 16 home runs, 21 doubles, four triples, a league-leading 62 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He's in the middle of a four-horse race for American League MVP along with Aaron Judge, Rafael Devers and Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani, arguably the most talented overall player since Babe Ruth and possibly even before, could jump into that mix soon.

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Ramirez is also in line to join the ranks of some of the best seasons ever put up by a Cleveland position player. Here's a look at the players he's chasing, first by weighted runs created plus (wRC+, an overall offensive statistic with 100 being league average) and fWAR (Wins Above Replacement, explained here). For the Cleveland-centric sections, multiple seasons by the same player will be rolled into one and will just feature their best of the two (or three), thus getting five different players into the mix.

Top Cleveland seasons by wRC+

Nap Lajoie, 1904 — 196 wRC+

Lajoie had an incredible run not long after the turn of the century, and he owns the top two Cleveland seasons by wRC+ with a 196 in 1904 and then a 194 in 1910.

A 196 wRC+ means he was 96 percent better than the average hitter that season. In 1904, he led the league through his entire slash line in average (.376), on-base percentage (.413) and slugging percentage (.546). He also led the league with 208 hits, 302 total bases, 49 doubles and 102 RBIs.

Jim Thome, 2002 — 189 wRC+

Thome set the franchise record with 52 home runs in 2002 to go with a .304 average, .445 on-base percentage, 118 RBIs, 101 runs scored and a league-leading .677 slugging percentage. He didn't get any extra credit for his 511-foot home run, though, which remains a ballpark record.

Shoeless Joe Jackson, 1913 — 186 wRC+

Shoeless Joe's closest call with the MVP award came in 1913, when he finished second. That year he led the league in hits (197), doubles (39), slugging percentage (.551) and OPS (1.011). He also hit seven home runs and 17 triples and drove in 71 runs.

Albert Belle, 1994 — 186 wRC+

Albert Belle's 1995 season was his best known, when he hit 50 home runs and 52 doubles. But wRC+ is weighted against the league's hitters in a given year, and in 1994 he was further above the rest of the pack as a whole during the shortened season. That 1994 season, which began a run of three consecutive top-3 MVP seasons, Belle hit .357 with a .438 on-base percentage along with 36 home runs, 35 doubles, 101 RBIs and 90 runs scored in only 106 games.

Manny Ramirez, 2000 — 182 wRC+

Jose Ramirez is chasing Manny Ramirez's franchise RBI record, which he set in 1999 with 165. The next year was Manny Ramirez's best in Cleveland by wRC+, when he hit .351 with a .457 on-base percentage, 38 home runs, 34 doubles, 122 RBIs and 92 runs scored. That was before Ramirez helped Terry Francona win a World Series title in Boston four years later.

Top Cleveland seasons by a position player by fWAR

Lou Boudreau, 1948 — 10.9 fWAR

Easily the best season by a Cleveland position player, Boudreau helped to lead Cleveland to the franchise's second World Series title in 1948. He hit .355 with a .453 on-base percentage to go with 18 home runs, 106 RBIs and 116 runs scored.

Nap Lajoie, 1906 — 9.4 fWAR

Lajoie had two 9.0-plus fWAR seasons, but the better of the two was in 1906. He hit .355 with a .392 on-base percentage, a league-leading 48 doubles, nine triples, 91 RBIs, 88 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. Who needs home runs? Lajoie has three of the top six Cleveland seasons by fWAR.

Shoeless Joe Jackson, 1911 — 9.3 fWAR

Jackson's first full season was a dominant one in which he hit .408 and led the league with a .468 on-base percentage to go with seven home runs, 45 doubles, 19 triples, 83 RBIs, 126 runs scored and 41 stolen bases. It began four-year run in which he finished in the top-10 of MVP voting in all four seasons.

Al Rosen, 1953 — 9.1 fWAR

One of the best offensive seasons in Cleveland franchise history, Rosen took home the MVP award in 1953 after leading the league in home runs (43), RBIs (145), runs scored (115), slugging percentage (.613), OPS (1.034) and total bases (367).

Tris Speaker, 1920 — 8.7 fWAR

Tris Speaker had two 8.7 fWAR seasons, but his 1920 season will take precedence, as he helped to lead Cleveland to its first World Series title. Speaker was on base nearly half the time he came to the plate, as he hit .388 with a .483 on-base percentage to go with eight home runs, a league-leading 50 doubles, 11 triples, 107 RBIs and 137 runs scored. And he should have gotten a managerial bonus that season as well.

Top all-time seasons by an MLB third baseman by fWAR

Darrell Evans, 1973 — 9.7 fWAR, 158 wRC+

No, the greatest season by Wins Above Replacement for a third baseman doesn't belong to a Schmidt, a Rodriguez or a Rosen. It's co-owned by Darrell Evans, who in 1973 hit .281 with a .403 on-base percentage, 41 home runs, 114 RBIs and 104 runs scored. He also led the league with 124 walks that season. Amazingly, the season that's tied for the best ever by a third baseman was only good enough for an 18th-place finish in MVP voting that season.

Adrian Beltre, 2004 — 9.7 fWAR, 161 wRC+

One of the most consistent hitters of a generation, even when his swing took him down to one knee, Beltre hit .334 with a .388 on-base percentage to go with 48 home runs, 121 RBIs and 104 runs scored in 2004, good enough to tie Evans for the best season ever (by fWAR) at the position.

Alex Rodriguez, 2007 — 9.6 fWAR, 175 wRC+

A-Rod put up a monster offensive season in 2007, hitting .314 with a .422 on-base percentage, 54 home runs, 156 RBIs, 146 runs scored and 24 stolen bases en route to the MVP award. His defense severely hurt his total value, though, leaving him just short of Evans and Beltre in fWAR.

Ron Santo, 1967 — 9.5 fWAR, 153 wRC+

The Cubs third baseman of 1967 hit 13 home runs, drove in 98 runs, scored 107 and hit .300 with a .395-on percentage along with some solid defense. Oddly enough, Santo wasn't an All-Star that season but finished 4th in MVP voting.

Mike Schmidt, 1974 — 9.4 fWAR, 157 wRC+

Arguably the best third baseman of all time had to be on this list somewhere. Schmidt had two seasons with at least 9.0 fWAR, with the better coming in 1974 (the other was in 1977, 9.2 fWAR). Coincidentally, neither ended up being one of his three MVP seasons. In 1974, Schmidt hit 36 home runs, drove in 116 runs, scored 108 and stole 23 bases, good enough for 9.4 fWAR.

Jose Ramirez on pace to challenge best season ever by a third baseman

So where does Ramirez rank in Cleveland and third basemen history in terms of fWAR and wRC+ this season?

Through the team's first 65 games, Ramirez has hit .301 with a 1.014 OPS, 16 home runs, 21 doubles, four triples and an AL-leading 62 RBIs.

He has a 185 wRC+, which would rank seventh in Cleveland franchise history (Lajoie and Jackson both would have multiple seasons above this). It'd also be the third best wRC+ by a Cleveland hitter since World War I.

Ramirez has also accrued 3.9 fWAR through the team's 65 games. That puts him on pace for 9.7 fWAR, which would be in a three-way tie (to the hundredth's decimal point) with Evans and Beltre for the best season ever at that position. Devers is just ahead of Ramirez with 4.0 fWAR so far this season, but the Red Sox have played 70 games, putting him on pace for 9.2 fWAR.

In that way, Ramirez is chasing history — and his first MVP award — on multiple fronts as he attempts to lead the youngest team in baseball to the postseason in 2022.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians' Jose Ramirez chasing Cleveland, MLB history in 2022