The Guardians star third baseman will be making the trip to Los Angeles as one of three Cleveland representatives in next week's All-Star Game. And while he's there, a chance to win a Home Run Derby title has been added to the itinerary.
Jose Ramirez has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2022 Home Run Derby, the team confirmed on Twitter Wednesday night. The derby is set to take place on Monday at Dodger Stadium.
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Ramirez becomes the seventh confirmed participant in the eight-player field. Pete Alonso, Juan Soto , Ronald Acuna Jr., Albert Pujols , Kyle Schwarber and Julio Rodriguez have all been reportedly confirmed, with one remaining open spot.
Ramirez has hit 17 home runs this season, tied for 22nd in Major League Baseball. He hit 36 last season and 17 in only 58 games in the shortened 2020 season. Ramirez could have participated in the 2018 Home Run Derby, but he and the team said then that it was a "mutual decision" for him to pass on it.
Shortly after missing a few games with a thumb issue, Ramirez struggled for the first time in 2022, though he has largely rebounded over the last week, hitting .286 with an .833 OPS, one home run, three doubles and five RBIs.
Ramirez will be the first Cleveland hitter since Carlos Santana to partake in the Home Run Derby. Santana was a participant when the All-Star festivities were held at Progressive Field in 2019. Santana put on a good showing in the first round in front of the home fans, launching 13 home runs, but lost to Alonso, the eventual winner.
Guardians starting pitcher Aaron Civale left Wednesday night's game after only one inning with right wrist soreness.
Civale threw 20 pitches and then was removed from the game in favor of Eli Morgan . Manager Terry Francona said after the game that Civale was undergoing an MRI.
This season, Civale has posted a 6.28 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 53 innings in what has been the first significant slump of his career.
Catcher Luke Maile is also being examined by the team after he was hit in the facemask by a foul tip. Francona said the team is a bit worried about Maile's status, to the point that had the game gone into extra innings, utility man Ernie Clement would have entered the game at catcher.
Morgan, Enyel De Los Santos , Sam Hentges , Trevor Stephan and Emmanuel Clase combined to hold the White Sox to two runs in eight innings.
After Civale's inning, the call was made to put Morgan into the game on short notice. He threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
"I mean it all starts with the phone call so once the phone rang, I'm sure everyone's heart started racing," Morgan said. "Just waited to see what the news was and I knew I was going in and I was sprinting in there."
The Guardians bullpen has been worked heavily over recent weeks due to the team's series of doubleheaders and lack of off days. It could be argued that no team in baseball is ready for the four-day All-Star break than the Guardians. Thus far, the bullpen has handled the extra workload.
"We're just ready for that," Morgan said. "We've got a really good bullpen down there, we're all capable of throwing extra innings. I think we're built for it."
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: Jose Ramirez joins 2022 Home Run Derby field
