Jose Ramirez surprisingly declined an invitation to participate in the Home Run Derby this year, and on Thursday he explained why.
The Cleveland Indians third baseman, who has 27 home runs on the season, seems to think that conserving his energy is more important.
“I sat down with the team and we made a decision, all of us together,” Ramirez said via a translator, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “We just decided it wasn’t the best thing for me to do at this time. It’s a long season. I’m a player that plays every day and I need to save energy for the second half and, God willing, the playoffs as well.”
Indians manager Terry Francona said that Ramirez would have had the team’s blessing had he chosen to participate in the competition on Monday, but that he felt it was a good choice from Ramirez to decline.
Other Indians players commented that Ramirez had been really excited about doing it and boasting that he would win, so they were surprised when he turned it down. Back in June, we even had a story about him saying he wanted to do it.
It seems that the team’s leadership may have told Ramirez all the reasons why avoiding the competition might be beneficial, especially as the Indians look poised to win the AL Central for the third straight season.
