Cleveland Guardians land 3 players in MLB’s hitter power rankings

There are hot-hitting Cleveland Guardians players up and down the lineup to start the year, and they are well-represented in MLB.com’s hitter power rankings.

The Cleveland Guardians offense is humming to begin the year, and people are certainly noticing.

This includes the esteemed minds over at MLB.com, who have released their first-ever hitter power rankings, with the Guardians finding themselves with three players in the top ten: third baseman José Ramírez (#2), infielder Owen Miller (#7), and left fielder Steven Kwan (#10).

Let’s take a look at what MLB.com had to say about each of Cleveland’s hot hitters:

José Ramírez

It’s certainly not a surprise to see Ramírez on the list, and the case could be made that he should be at the top. Through the first 13 games of the season now, Ramírez is hitting a robust .392/.439/.765 with four home runs, five doubles and an eye-popping 255 OPS+.

Here is what MLB.com had to say about the Guardians third baseman:

The man with the brand-new seven-year contract has been money over the first two weeks of the season. J-Ram is torching opposing pitching, starting off on an 11-game hitting streak, including three three-hit games, four homers (including a grand slam on Wednesday) and an MLB-high 20 RBIs. His video-game-like .429/.479/.881 slash line translates to an absurd (and AL-leading) 298 OPS+ — that’s nearly three times the MLB average.

Steven Kwan

Kwan simply continues to hit – and pretty much never swing and miss in the process. He had another two hits against the Yankees Friday night, raising his average to .395 and keeping his wRC+ at a ridiculous 222. Having him hit in front of Ramírez has been a revelation and should only help bolster Ramírez’s own MVP credentials over the course of the season.

While the Guardians’ batted balls have found lucky breaks so far, there’s more and more evidence to suggest that the offense in general is going to be far better than people expected – and possibly the most productive offense Cleveland has had in years.

Here is what MLB.com had to say about the Guardians’ rookie left fielder:

Three Guardians in the initial Hitter Power Rankings? You probably didn’t see that coming, but Cleveland leads the Majors in runs per game and OPS+. Kwan, the organization’s No. 15 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has been a big part of that, thanks to a .524 OBP and 8-to-3 walk-to-strikeout ratio. The rookie’s season-opening streak of 116 pitches seen and 40 swings taken before his first swing and miss (a foul tip, no less) has been one of the most fun storylines of this young season.