J-Ram earns 7th All-Star selection, 4th as starter

CHICAGO -- Chris Antonetti sat down to meet the media earlier this season, at a point when José Ramírez was in the middle of one of his patented stretches of excellence. Before Antonetti, the Guardians' president of baseball operations, took any questions from the assembled group of reporters in front of him, he flipped the script.

“Before you ask me, I'm going to ask you,” Antonetti said, smiling. “Because I'm guessing you're going to ask me something about José Ramírez, and I'm running out of ways to describe him. So, if you guys have any ways to describe Hosey that we’ve missed, I’d love to hear it.”

Antonetti stumped the media that day; it can be challenging to find unique new ways to describe Ramírez, though Wednesday brought forth an updated adjective to add to the list: seven-time All-Star.

Ramírez has been voted the American League’s starting third baseman for the 2025 Midsummer Classic, which is set for July 15 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.

“I’m very happy,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero before Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. “I’m very thankful to God for another opportunity and also thankful for the fans who voted for me.”

This is the Ramírez’s seventh career nod and his fourth as a starter -- a pair of accolades that has the 32-year-old in elite company in the storied annals of Cleveland baseball. He is now tied with Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Ken Keltner and Bob Lemon for the second-most All-Star berths in Cleveland franchise history, and he is one short of tying the franchise record held by Hall of Famer Bob Feller.

Ramírez is also is the first Cleveland player to earn four fan-elected starting nods (2017, ’18 and ’24), breaking a tie with Sandy Alomar Jr. and Kenny Lofton. He will join Guardians manager Stephen Vogt in Atlanta; Vogt accepted Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s invitation to be on the AL coaching staff. Steven Kwan (who was a finalist to start for the AL) also could be named an AL reserve this Sunday.

Ramírez has been his typically stellar self this season. Entering Wednesday, he was slashing .305/.367/.493 with 16 doubles, 13 homers, 38 RBIs and 21 stolen bases over 80 games, and he had recorded 3.2 WAR (per FanGraphs), first among third basemen.

From April 30-June 14, Ramírez carried a 39-game on-base streak, the longest of his career. That stretch included a 21-game hitting streak (May 6-28), which also marked a career long for Ramírez.

Ramírez, for what it’s worth, has not been satisfied by what he’s done so far this season.

“That’s why I appreciate the fans’ vote,” he said. “It actually hasn’t been the type of year that I wanted to have, what I worked for. I feel it's more credit to the fans that voted for me to be there. But particularly, I wish I had a different performance or a better performance this year.”

Asked what he thinks he could have done better this year, Ramírez said in Spanish “todo” four times -- which translates to “everything.”

And his own 2025 season assessment notwithstanding, the All-Star nod is just the latest accolade in what has been another standout season by Ramírez. On April 21, he passed Tris Speaker for second most extra-base hits in franchise history (689); Earl Averill (725) ranks first. On May 1, Ramírez became the first player in Cleveland franchise history to hit 250 homers and steal 250 bases.

Last Wednesday, Ramírez moved into fourth place on Cleveland’s all-time games played list with 1,531. He capped off the night by hitting a walk-off single to beat the Blue Jays.

“He’s the best all-around third baseman in baseball,” Vogt said. “He's one of the top five players, in my opinion. Hosey exemplifies what it means to be a professional baseball player on the field, and he plays the game the right way. I'm just thankful I get to watch him do it every day.”

And once more, Ramírez’s excellence will be on display for the whole baseball world to see.