MLB's Latino of the Night: Cleveland Guardian José…

MLB's Latino of the Night: Cleveland Guardian José Ramírez' patience proves key in rare 10-pitch battle

José Ramírez is batting for .260 on the season and leads the Guardians in RBI (23) and is second in homers (5) (Credit: Ken Blaze/Via USA TODAY Sports)

SEATTLE - It's not often that you see a plate appearance that goes longer than four or five pitches. But to Cleveland Guardians José Ramírez, those are kind of part of the job now. During Cleveland's home game against the Boston Red Sox on April 25, Ramírez faced an old foe for the fourth time in his 12-year career in the Majors: a 10+ pitch at-bat.

With the bases loaded in the second inning, the Dominican was up against Boston's Chase Anderson. In what seemed to be an endless loop of pitches, Ramírez finally connected one of Anderson's throws and sent the ball flying 384 feet away from home plate, completing Ramírez' sixth-career grand slam with the Guardians.

On the 10th pitch of the at bat, Hosey said "get a new baseball."#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/oWe37Bg46b
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 25, 2024

"I feel like the only advantage you can get [in a long at-bat] is you get to see the pitch that the pitcher fully trusts the most," Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. "You can focus on trying to execute [against] that pitch."

Whatever strategy the Dominican had planned during his plate appearance it seems to have done the trick, as Ramírez' grand slam ended up being the difference between both teams, giving the Guardians a 6-4 win over the Red Sox.

But oddly enough, Ramírez has had some previous experience with a long at-bat appearance. His grand slam against the Red Sox marked the fourth time that Ramírez connects a homer in a 10-plus-plitch plate appearance, the most by any Cleveland player since pitch counts started to be tracked (since 1988).

LINK: https://twitter.com/CleGuardians/status/1783569093947174973/video/1

But the craziness doesn't end there. According to MLB's Sarah Langs, only three players across the Majors have had more than four homers in plate appearances of at least 10 pitches since 1988: Todd Helton (eight), Paul Konerko (seven) and Paul Goldschmidt (six).

"I mean, I've been in this game for a long time and I know when you're hitting the ball well, sooner or later the results will come," Ramírez said. "I know the season is long and good things are going to happen if you keep doing the right things."