Impressions from afar: Here's what Stephen Vogt, Scott Barlow thought of Jose Ramirez
To Scott Barlow, as a member of the Kansas City Royals bullpen for parts of six seasons, Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez resembled something other than he does now that the two are teammates.
For years, while Barlow watched from the opposing team's bullpen, Ramirez was the guy who strutted to the plate with all the confidence in the world at his shoulders. He was the guy who pitchers had to game plan the most for — by far. And he was the guy who always — always — seemed to be up at the plate in the game's biggest moments.
Barlow was an in-division rival of Ramirez's for those six years before the former was traded to the San Francisco Giants at last year's trade deadline. The Guardians then traded for Barlow in what was their biggest offseason move, sending Enyel De Los Santos to San Francisco. It immediately made Barlow a key member of the Guardians bullpen ahead of closer Emmanuel Clase.
Before the trade that made him and Ramirez teammates, Barlow faced the Guardians 31 times, posting an overall ERA of 3.90 against them. He probably got the better of Ramirez, striking him out three times in eight at-bats and allowing only two singles. But much of that came about from a deep level of respect in game planning for him. And Barlow was still on the receiving end of a number of losses at the hands of Ramirez when he wasn't on the mound.
In 152 games against the Royals, Ramirez has 28 home runs, 92 RBIs and an .865 OPS. That's what stuck with Barlow when asked about his No. 1 impression of Ramirez from afar, before becoming his teammate. That somehow, someway, he almost expected Ramirez to ruin the day for Kansas City.
"Crazy clutch," Barlow said, shaking his head. "When we had meetings and stuff prior to playing Cleveland, we'd go through each hitter, and then Jose had his own section."
As a member of the Royals, Barlow almost came to expect it — every time, when the game was on the line, Ramirez came up to the plate or made a highlight reel play at third base, like a shark lurking in the waters. Somehow, someway, in the game's biggest moments, it was always No. 11.
"At the end of the game, we've lost, and we're like, 'How do we get this guy out in these situations?'" Barlow said. "You could do certain things, but when the game was on the line, it didn't matter what you did. I mean, I've never seen anything like it where you needed a certain guy to get a hit, it was always Jose."
New Guardians manager Stephen Vogt loved watching Jose Ramirez play before joining Cleveland
For new Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who was an opponent of Ramirez's as recently as 2022, the third baseman was a can't-miss player.
"About as good as they can get," Vogt said, of what he thought of Ramirez from the opposing dugout, or at catcher as he walked to the plate. "Obviously the talent speaks for itself as one of the top players in the league, but just his demeanor, his focus, he's a true pro, plays the game the right way, has respect for the game."
"As an opponent, he was somebody I loved watching play. There's certain guys that when you go to town, you get excited. Obviously you want to get them out every time, but you cannot wait to watch them play. And he was pretty high on my list as a competitor."
And then there's the strut, Ramirez's famous all-confident style with which he carries himself. That isn't missed by opponents, either. But Ramirez toes the line between respectfully confident and overly cocky.
"He's very confident, but not in a bad way," Barlow said. "You look at him and you're like, 'Wow, he carries himself with a really good, confident walk,' and then whether it's defense, it was a tough play he makes, you're like, 'Oh, that was nothing.'"
It reached the point with Vogt that even when a Seattle Mariners pitcher got the best of Ramirez, it was only seen as poking the bear. Last year, Matt Brash struck him out, and he got right up and strutted back to the dugout. I was like, 'Uh oh, now he's mad.' … It's very infections to watch him walk around a baseball field."
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Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians Jose Ramirez leaves impression on Stephen Vogt, Scott Barlow
