The Cleveland Guardians lived by the saying "the offense goes as Jose Ramirez goes". Ramirez has been the veteran and team leader in past year's playoff runs. They relied on him to get on base and hit for power while the pitching staff attempted to minimize runs allowed. However, this postseason is different and the lineup will not be defined by Ramirez's performance.
Ramirez struggled to open the season and then things got worse when he suffered a hamate bone injury. He ended the season by hitting .198 with one home run in September. The power numbers for the season took a huge decline as he only hit 12 for the season. Ramirez cannot be relied upon to be the sole influencer of the offense for this playoff run.
The Guardians' offense enters the playoffs as one of the worst in all of baseball . They did not have a single player hit 20 home runs in their uniform for the entire season. No player hit for 75 runs batted in and only four players hit above .250. So how can the Guardians' offense compete against the best in the league to make a deep run?
The biggest factor in the lineup to be able to keep pace with the best offenses is stashed way down in the lineup. Brayan Rocchio has been one of the best nine-hole hitters in all of the MLB. He hit .253 and led the Guardians in runs batted in with 73. Rocchio can have a significant influence in how the lineup performs.
As the ninth hitter, Rocchio can turnover the lineup to the red-hot Stephen Kwan. This will lead to baserunners for the guys that have power potential. The Guardians need big innings and the more runners they have for Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, and Jo Adell, the higher chance they can put up crooked numbers . Multi-run innings are back breakers in the postseason as the pitching ramps up and runs are hard to come by.
Rocchio makes all that possible by hitting at the bottom of the lineup. The opposing team cannot go one inning without having to face a threat at the plate. Pitchers will have to be focused on pitching to him as he has the ability to turn on a mistake and hit one over the fence. The switch-hitting shortstop also has ice in his veins.
When the Guardians need a hit, Rocchio is their guy. He led the team in walk-off hits for the season with four. He hit .284 with five home runs in September, when every win was a must. He earned the nickname "Rocctober" by hitting .333 in the 2024 ALCS playoff run.
While Ramirez has carried the lineup in the past, Rocchio is the biggest advantage in the lineup. Other teams' nine-hole hitters will not be as productive as him. The Guardians' offense will go as Rocchio goes and that will be the biggest factor on their way to a World Series' run.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/guardians/onsi as The Guardians' Biggest X-Factor in the 2026 Postseason Might Not Be Jose Ramirez .
