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TORONTO -- José Ramírez has already set the Cleveland franchise record for games played, and it won’t be long before he makes more history. He’s literally and figuratively running down some serious all-time marks.
Ramírez has opened the season 11-for-11 in stolen-base attempts, putting him on the cusp of joining Kenny Lofton (452) as the only players in Cleveland franchise history with 300 steals. The superstar third baseman has 298 for his career entering Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays.
Lofton is also Cleveland's single-season stolen base leader, with 75 in 1996, if you were wondering.
Only three active players have logged 300 career steals in Starling Marte (361), Jose Altuve (326) and Trea Turner (318). Ramírez will be in great company once he gets there in the imminent future, and we know he’ll only continue to climb baseball’s all-time leaderboards -- and those in Cleveland.
With that in mind, here are a handful of other milestones and historic marks Ramírez is fast approaching to keep an eye on, with numbers via the Guardians and courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.
300 home runs
This is a big one for a few reasons. One, Ramírez has hit 291 career home runs. Only Jim Thome has eclipsed 300 in a Cleveland uniform; the big slugger belted 337 homers during his time in Northeast Ohio. Ramírez will eclipse that a bit further down the road.
Two, Ramírez is primed to become only the ninth player in MLB history with 300 career homers and 300 career steals. That list features Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Carlos Beltrán, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley.
Of those nine players, only Barry Bonds eclipsed 350 home runs and 350 stolen bases in his career (762 homers 514 steals). Ramírez could give him some company in that group in due time.
Second in doubles in franchise history
Ramírez clobbered an opposite-field double off Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman in the fourth inning on Saturday, which marked No. 404 in his career. That put him 20 away from tying Nap Lajoie for second place on the franchise leaderboard. Tris Speaker (486) ranks first.
Ramírez has hit six doubles this season. He has eclipsed 30 in each of the past five seasons. You don’t need to do much math to see that, given the rate he’s going, he could pass Speaker in the coming few seasons. First, he must pass Lajoie, and he figures to do so this summer.
First place in total bases
Ramírez has logged 3,055 career total bases through Saturday. He continues to close in on Earl Averill (3,201, per Elias) for the franchise lead and could eclipse the Hall of Fame outfielder in the coming months. Ramírez has averaged about 305 total bases in each of the past five seasons. He’s logged 48 so far this season and is 146 off the pace from Averill.
Top 5 in hits
Six players have logged at least 1,700 hits in a Cleveland uniform. Ramírez (who has 1,692 through Saturday) is about to become the seventh, joining Lajoie (2,052), Speaker (1,965), Averill (1,903), Joe Sewell (1,800), Charlie Jamieson (1,753) and Lou Boudreau (1,706).
Ramírez has 24 hits this season. He has averaged about 165 the past five seasons. With 141 more hits this year, he’ll stand at 1,833 for his career -- or, in other words, fourth in team history, and close to cracking the Top 3.
With his remarkable consistency and longevity, the all-time record figures to be Ramírez's one day, among many of the club’s other top marks.