Jose Ramirez's Franchise Record Puts Him On Pace To Rewrite the Guardians' Record Books

With tonight’s lineup officially submitted, Jose Ramirez is fully expected to play and break the all-time Guardians record for most games played in franchise history. And, as Sarah Langs points out, he is the only active player to lead his team in games played.

Most games played, Cleveland history:

José Ramírez: 1,619
Terry Turner: 1,619
Nap Lajoie: 1,614

Ramírez is the only active player to currently lead a franchise in games played (including ties for lead)
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 5, 2026

But this record means a whole lot more than just games played. It is also about his productivity in those games.

Sooner rather than later, Jose Ramirez will lead the franchise in many categories. Heck, he even leads in a handful of them now. Let us dive into which records he can also break.

José Ramírez will become the all-time leader in games played in our 125-year history with his next.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/mPOiLUuS4y
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 6, 2026

FRANCHISE bWAR LEADER

May 4, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) celebrates making the final out of the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Nap Lajoie has a handful of Cleveland records from the early 1900s. One of those that Jose is chasing is his WAR record. Lajoie posted a career bWAR of 80.7. Jose Ramirez’s current bWAR for his career is 57.6.

Ramirez had a WAR of 5.8 last season, 6.8 in 2024, 4.9 in 2023, 5.9 in 2022, and 6.7 in 2021. There is currently a 23.1 difference between the two players’ WAR. If Ramirez averages 5.5 bWAR per season, it will take him just over four full seasons to catch and surpass Lajoie. Ramirez has had seasons of 7.9 bWAR and 6.9 bWAR in 2018 and 2017, but getting to even 5.5 bWAR is not easy.

In 2025, Ramirez was runner-up in the AL MVP voting and his bWAR was 5.8. He will need to consistently put up MVP numbers to get to this, but there has been no sign of him slowing down. By 2031 or so, expect Ramirez to break the franchise record for WAR.

HOME RUN, HITS, AND RBI LEADER

Sep 18, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Cleveland Guardians third base Jose Ramirez (11) hits a two run home run in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The main offensive categories that people track are hits, home runs, and RBI. Jose Ramirez is likely going to lead the Cleveland franchise in all three by the time it is said and done.

Nap Lajoie also leads Cleveland in career hits, with 2,047. Currently, Ramirez sits at 1,674.

Ramirez notched 168 hits in 2025, 173 in 2024, 172 in 2023, 168 in 2022, and 147 in 2021. Being only 373 hits behind Lajoie, at his current pace, Ramirez will pass this in less than three full seasons.

The franchise leader in home runs is Jim Thome with 337. Jose Ramirez has 286, for a difference of 101 home runs. Jose Ramirez has hit 23 or more home runs in every season since 2017 (excluding 2020’s COVID year, where he hit 17).

This is a record that will realistically be broken in about four seasons, but Ramirez is well on pace to shatter Thome’s home run record if he never leaves and hardly slows down.

Then there is the RBI record that Earl Averill owns, with 1,084 RBI. Jose Ramirez currently has 953.

That is a difference of only 131. With a monster year, Ramirez could break that this year. More likely than not, this is a record Jose breaks early next season.

STOLEN BASES

Sep 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) steals third base against the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Jose Ramirez has become known as the most underappreciated stealer of bases in all of baseball. Since 2021, Ramirez has racked up an impressive 158 stolen bases, to give him 289 for his career. Kenny Lofton holds the Cleveland record with 452 steals.

This puts Ramirez 163 behind the legendary Lofton. Ramirez would need to replicate what he has done the past five seasons and then some over the next five seasons to reach this number. It seems unattainable at first glance, but it is closer than it seems.

Ramirez set a career high in steals each of the past two seasons. He racked up 41 steals in 2024 and 44 in 2025. Before that, his career best was 34 back in 2018. He has also not gone below 20 steals in a season since 2017 (excluding the COVID year in 2020, where he had 10).

Lofton just may be able to hold onto this record, but knowing Ramirez, he will find a way to squeak past this one as well.

Jose Ramirez already owns the franchise record in extra base hits, intentional walks, multi-home run games, and now games played. He is on pace to break several more prominent records in Cleveland history. He is also on pace to break some MLB records and retire as a Hall of Fame player and one of the best of his generation.

Cleveland fans will know him for something else. Being the best. That proof will be the number one next to his name in each category of the franchise’s record book.