José Ramírez thinks very highly of himself.
The Guardians slugger had an interesting response to a reporter’s suggestion that he was given the “Barry Bonds treatment” when Ramírez was walked with the bases loaded in the sixth inning Sunday in what eventually became a 5-4 Cleveland win over the Angels.
His walk plated what proved to be the game-winning run.
The decision harkened back to the days when opposing teams would be fearful of pitching to Bonds during his heyday.
Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes suggested Ramirez was getting the same treatment as the former Giants slugger.
“He goes, ‘I’m better than Barry Bonds.’ And he said it in perfect English too, Joe,” Hoynes revealed Ramírez said during “The Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast.”
“I mean, that’s what you got to love about him is that he knew it and the confidence there,” podcast co-host Joe Noga responded.
Ramirez has certainly been playing quite well this season, leading the majors in RBIs and hitting .365 with an OPS of 1.239 dating back to May 13.
However, there is one big difference when using that at-bat to compare Ramirez to Bonds.
The Angels were only trying to pitch conservatively to Ramírez in a 4-2 game, while in Bonds’ case, it was intentional.
Bonds — MLB’s steroid-tainted home run king — famously drew an intentional walk with two outs and the bases loaded during a game against the Diamondbacks in 1998 that drove home a run.
Arizona — managed by Buck Showalter at the time — was leading 8-6 in the ninth inning and the decision worked, as Brent Mayne lined out after Bonds’ walk and the Diamondbacks held on for a one-run win.
It made sense why the Angels wanted to be cautious with Ramirez, since he had tortured them in the first two games of the series.
He tallied three home runs in the first two games of the series and still got on base twice despite being held without a hit Sunday.
The Guardians are off to a strong 36-18 start, good for the second-best winning percentage in the American League, and lead the Royals by 2.5 games in the AL Central.