Seven Reasons Behind Jose Ramirez's Strange and Steep Decline

Jose Ramirez's decline almost defies explanation. He was in the company of Hall of Famers after terrific seasons in 2016 and 2017—now he's among the major's worst hitters. What happened?

CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez is broken, and nobody around the Indians seems to know why.

It is one of the strangest, steepest declines in recent memory. In a span of 102 games, beginning Aug. 18, 2018, Ramirez fell from being one of the five to 10 best players to the worst hitter in baseball, at least by batting average among regulars. The Cleveland third baseman has batted .189 over those 102 games. No one else with at least 250 at-bats has been worse. It has been not just his hitting. His defense has collapsed…