Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez appears to be in the midst of another MVP-caliber season.
Will the three-time top-five finisher finally get over the hump?
Obviously it's too soon to say, on at least a couple fronts, but Ramirez took note when he was conspicuously left off preseason MVP lists, and he's certainly playing like he took the "snub" personally.
The three-time All-Star joined elite company with his performance through his first 44 games, becoming the 26th player in MLB history with at least 10 doubles and home runs as well as 50 RBIs. According to Baseball-Reference, Ramirez is the first to do it since Detroit's Miguel Cabrera in 2013.
Of course, Cabrera went on to win AL MVP in '13.
While Ramirez has not only been his usual awesome self so far in '22, he actually appears to be taking his game to new levels of excellence.
More specifically, Ramirez is tightening up his already-strong plate discipline. He's drawn 25 walks to just 15 strikeouts, all while upping his impressive power numbers.
Simply put, Ramirez is a great hitter and is perhaps having a career year, right in the middle of his prime.
The 29-year-old is no doubt among the game's top performers, but will it be enough to push him to the top of MVP balloting?
As always, the trajectory of his team will be a factor. Cleveland was four games under .500 entering Tuesday's action, good for third place in the AL Central. According to Fangraphs, the Guardians had just an 11% chance of reaching the playoffs. On the bright side, they had a +14 run differential, suggesting some positive regression could be in the offing. And with a newly expanded playoff format, the stretch run will have new contours.
In any event, MVP voters in recent years have seemed to be more willing to disregard team record when evaluating a player's candidacy.
Last year, neither recipient -- Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper -- came from a playoff team. In 2019, Mike Trout won despite the Angels winning just 72 games. In 2017, Giancarlo Stanton won for the 77-win Marlins.
Speaking of Ohtani and Trout, they figure to factor prominently in the discussion once in 2022. Ohtani is bringing his usual dual-threat value to the table, while a resurgent Trout was tied with Ramirez for the AL lead in fWAR among position players at 3.0.
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