Indians catcher Wilson Ramos has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and a sprained MCL in his knee, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. He’ll require season-ending surgery.
Ramos sustained the injury yesterday when fielding a weak grounder in front of the plate. He threw out Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez, who was running from first to second on the play, but dropped in a heap upon releasing the ball. Cleveland trainers came out onto the field as Ramos, who remained down and gestured to his left knee. He was helped off the field by a pair of members of the Indians’ training staff. It’s the third ACL tear of Ramos’ career, although the first two tears came in his right knee back in 2012 and in 2016.
The 34-year-old Ramos opened the season in Detroit after signing a one-year, $2MM contract over the winter and promptly homered six times in his first nine games of the season, posting a ridiculous .281/.343/.875 batting line in that tiny sample. His production cratered not long after, however, and Ramos managed just a .178/.198/.216 batting line over his final 91 plate appearances before being designated for assignment, missing time with a back injury along the way. Detroit released him on June 20, and Cleveland signed him to a minor league deal about three weeks later.
Ramos hit well through 16 games with the Indians’ top affiliate in Columbus before having his contract selected to the MLB roster. He’s since appeared in nine games and posted a .226/.286/.419 batting line with a pair of homers.
Another major knee injury is a brutal blow for Ramos at this stage of his career. His glovework behind the plate has been graded with increasing levels of skepticism since that 2016 ACL tear, and he’s also dealt with hamstring and back injuries along the way. The hope will be for as swift a recovery as possible, but it goes without saying that it’d be a tall order for a 34-year-old with a multiple ACL repairs under his belt to handle a sizable workload behind the dish.
The Indians haven’t yet put a timetable on Ramos’ recovery, but he’s a free agent at season’s end, so it’s quite possible this injury will effectively end a very brief tenure with the organization. Presumably, the team will provide more details on his expected rehabilitation process once the surgery has been performed and more information has been gathered.
It may be time for Ramos to get on with his life’s work. (As Chuck Noll would say.)
Baseball is his life’s work. He’s made $43million over his career. He never needs to work again if he doesn’t want to.
Agree Steve. Most of us would love to be in Ramos’ position absent needing surgery.
Heck, I’d take it even with the pending surgery. I’ve had around 10 surgeries already, so what’s one more?
@deweybelongsinthehall
The guy grew up in the ghetto of Venezuela, was kidnapped in November 2011 at gunpoint in front of him family and has suffered two torn ACLs in his major league career, the second one of which may very well force him into retirement. No, my family was never close to being worth an 1/8 of what Ramos made over the last decade, but I would not trade my life for his in 100 years
Finally a sensible comment. His life might look rosy from the outside, but the far-majority of the players from Latin America and the Caribbean have had to endure some serious adversity to get to America, let alone to the MLB.
Chuck Noll famously made the comment about Terry Bradshaw when he was near retirement that it was perhaps time for him to “get on with his life’s work.” It was seen as a bit callous at the time, but Noll meant that the time an athlete plays his game is short compared to the rest of his adult life, and at some point it’s time to get on with life’s work. Same for Quintana.. He may be a millionaire, but I’m sure he will find something to do beyond leisure activities for the rest of his life. It would be sad for a 32-year-old to spend the rest of his life on vacation.
rodcannon: I agree with everything that you mentioned except that this article is about Wilson Ramos, not Quintana. Though it does apply to both of them.
dang
Delfinitely wolnt be balck this sealson eh
I’m sure the “l’ thing is a reference to something. Something petty, but definitely something.
Delfinitely peltty but I wolnt be lolsing sleep
Is that Welsh?
Works pretty well with his user name
Ah petty sports fans.
Wishing injury on people they don’t know and celebrating when it happens.
If you’re over the age of 12 there’s no excuse for acting that way.
Bad news for the Buffalo. He’s a good guy and was fun to root for when he was a Met. It’s ironic that this injury happened when he actually was able to throw out a runner stealing since he didn’t have a great record doing that with the Mets. Get well soon, Wilson!
Wasn’t a CS it was a weak grounder in front of the plate
Great throw considering what was happening to him as he completed it.
And his last hit as an Indian–maybe as a major leaguer?– was a big one as well…a two-run single late to make it a game.. On an 0-2 pitch no less. If you’re forced to go out, it was a memorable departure at least.
Sadly not even the Mets were rooting for Ramos when he was a Met
Mets are going to do Mets things.
Ouch. Second ACL.
That stinks he was barely hanging on as is
Sounds like a younger version of Victor Martinez, also done in by numerous knee problems. VMart remained effective longer, however, at least when he wasn’t under the knife.
Difference being V-Mart could actually hit, which is why he got that big contract from the Tigers to DH.
He looks out of shape to play MLB,
Wilson, take this as an opportunity to WALK off the baseball diamond into the sunset !!!
WHILE YOU CAN STILL WALK !!
After his recovery the Mets should take a flyer on him as Thor’s personal catcher.
Heh. I get it.
Shame as he played great in his short stint with the Tribe. Good luck to him, wish they’d keep him and dump Hedge and his salary but this injury probably means he’s done,
Buffalo chips
Both the Tigers and Indians emphasize pitching yet they acquire a catcher with a reputation for not working well with some pitchers.