José Enrique Ramírez Mateo (born September 17, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball third baseman for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He signed with the Cleveland Indians as an international free agent in 2009, and made his MLB debut in 2013.
Ramírez is a seven-time All-Star selection, a six-time Silver Slugger Award award winner, and a three-time selectee to the All-MLB Team. In 2016, he helped lead the Indians to the World Series, hitting .310 (9-for-31) in the series, which the Indians ultimately lost in 7 games to the Chicago Cubs. In 2017, he led the major leagues in doubles. In 2018, Ramírez hit 39 home runs and stole 34 bases to join the 30–30 club. In 2025, he became the first Cleveland player to have 250 home runs and 250 stolen bases; the 24th player to achieve the mark in MLB history, and the first primary third baseman to do so.
Ramírez grew up in poverty in Baní, Dominican Republic. He is the first-born son of Silveria Mateo and Sito Ramírez.
He says that by the age of 13, he was already playing in a league for adults. He looked up to MVP Miguel Tejada, who also grew up in Baní and often returned to do philanthropic work, a legacy Ramírez would grow up to continue. There is now an all-turf field, donated by Ramírez and the Cleveland Guardians, located near Ramírez's childhood home that bears his name.
As a teenager, Ramírez played baseball in the Dominican Prospect League. In 2009, at the age of 17, Ramírez and other unsigned prospects traveled to the Cleveland Indians' Dominican facility in Boca Chica, where an Indians scout, Ramon Peña, noticed the oft-overlooked Ramírez when Ramírez racked up 11 hits in four games across three days.
He signed with the Indians, receiving a $50,000 signing bonus.
Ramírez sat out the 2010 season and made his professional debut in 2011 with the Arizona Indians of the Rookie-level Arizona League. He batted .325 in 48 games played. He then played for the Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League. In 2012, he played for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League and Lake County Captains of the Class A Midwest League. The next year, he started the season with the Akron Aeros of the Double-A Eastern League.
2013—2015: Early major league career
The Indians promoted Ramírez to the major leagues on September 1, 2013, and he made his MLB debut that day. He entered the game as a pinch runner during the ninth inning and scored on Mike Avilés' game-winning grand slam. Ramírez recorded his first major league hit on September 9 against the Kansas City Royals, when he lined a single to left field off of Royals starter Ervin Santana during the third inning. Later in that same game, Ramírez also collected his first multiple-hit game in the major leagues, working a single off reliever Wade Davis during the seventh inning.
Ramírez began the 2014 season in the minor leagues and had a batting line of .319/.363/.484 in 105 plate appearances. He was promoted to the major leagues on May 1, as second baseman Jason Kipnis went on the disabled list. Ramírez was sent back to the minors on May 20 after Kipnis was reinstated. However, Ramírez was recalled before July 23.
Ramírez began to get regular playing time at shortstop on July 31, after the Indians traded shortstop Asdrúbal Cabrera. He hit his first home run on August 9 in his first career three-hit game. Ramírez finished the 2014 season by hitting .262 in 237 at-bats. He compiled 62 hits and also had 10 steals, tied for fourth-most on the team.
In 2015, Ramírez made his first Opening Day roster and started on Opening Day, batting ninth and playing shortstop. He also started the Indians' home opener on April 10. Ramírez went 1-for-4 in the team's first game at newly renovated Progressive Field.
Ramírez and the Indians struggled during the first half of the 2015 season. The team fell to last place in the AL Central during June, and Ramírez was sent down to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers of the International League during that span. After being called back up for the second time on August 3, Ramírez would play much better, hitting .250 over the second half of the season. He closed out the season by hitting .280 in September and October with 21 hits. He also had a power surge in September, hitting four home runs, setting his career high for home runs in one month.
In 2016, Ramírez hit .312/.363/.462. He became the first player during 2016 to hit in every spot in the lineup when he batted fourth on June 28. Ramírez had also played four positions this year: second base, third base, shortstop, and left field. When asked about Ramírez's play, Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo noted that Ramírez "has done a great job all year." He also concluded that with the Indians missing Michael Brantley, Ramírez has really stepped up in the heart of their batting order and has "been a real shot in the arm" for the organization.
On June 19, Ramírez hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning against the Chicago White Sox, which gave Cleveland a 3–2 win. That win was the third of 14 straight wins, at the time a franchise record. Their 14 straight wins from June 17 to July 1 was also the longest winning streak in the majors since 2013. During the streak, Ramírez batted .298 with 17 hits and nine RBIs. On July 14, Ramírez was third in the American League with a .377 batting average with runners in scoring position. On September 17, his 24th birthday, he hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Indians a 1–0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. He finished the season having established then career-highs of a .312 batting average, 46 doubles, 11 home runs, 76 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, and 4.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), per Baseball Reference.
In the fifth game of the World Series, Ramírez hit a home run, giving Cleveland a 1–0 lead over the Chicago Cubs. He hit .310 (9-for-31) in the World Series, with one double, one home run, and one walk. The Cubs ultimately prevailed, however, with Cleveland falling one run short in Game 7 in a bid for their first championship since 1948.
The Cleveland chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) selected Ramírez as the Bob Feller Man of the Year Award winner, the equivalent of the club's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. He also received consideration for the AL MVP for the first time, placing 17th.
On March 28, 2017, Ramírez signed a five-year contract extension worth $26 million. In June, he collected nine consecutive multi-hit games, the longest such streak for an Indians player since Roy Hughes in 1936. He was named AL Player of the Week for the first time in his career on June 18, after batting .516 with 16 hits, three home runs, seven RBIs, and a stolen base. He raised his average from .265 to .320 over his previous 22 games. When Jason Kipnis sustained a hamstring injury on July 9 that required a stint on the 10-day DL, Ramírez moved to second base to replace Kipnis for much of the remainder of the season. Ramírez was selected by fan voting as the starting third baseman for the American League in the MLB All-Star Game.