CLEVELAND -- This is the year Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez knew he could finally get into the T-Mobile Home Run Derby.

Ram¨ªrez had been invited in the past but said he could never make it work. This year, he was ready to accept the offer and was given the No. 5 seed, as he¡¯s slated to face No. 4 seed Juan Soto in Round 1 on Monday night.

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¡°It was a personal desire,¡± Ram¨ªrez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. ¡°This year, it happened, and especially for my family. They want to cheer for me. Especially my mom. She wanted to see me there. I especially want to do it for my mom.¡±

Step 1: Get permission
Ram¨ªrez was sure to stop by manager Terry Francona¡¯s office prior to making the decision, to double-check that his team was OK with his decision to enter the Home Run Derby.

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"There's always a little bit of hesitancy on our part because of what he means to us,¡± Francona said. ¡°But then when you sit back about five seconds later and you think about what this guy means to us, he has earned the right. And he asked, which I thought was really respectful. I told him if it's something you want to do, we support you."

Step 2: Who¡¯s pitching?
Ram¨ªrez had a handful of options, but he didn¡¯t hesitate once he considered his hitting coach from Rookie ball.

Ram¨ªrez was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2009. When he played for Cleveland¡¯s Arizona Rookie clubs in 2011, Junior Betances was there to help him begin his development as a hitter.

¡°It¡¯s something that was a long time coming,¡± Ram¨ªrez said. ¡°It feels like kind of a little reward to him for everything he helped me through my career in the Minors.¡±

Betances, who was serving his role as Double-A Akron hitting coach when he got the call, was not expecting the news.

¡°I was surprised,¡± Betances said. ¡°I was so excited. I didn¡¯t expect this. So, when he asked if I wanted to go to L.A., [I'm going to] enjoy the moment, enjoy with my family, enjoy with Jos¨¦¡¯s family and see what happens.¡±

Betances has been in the Cleveland organization since 2000. He¡¯s bounced around from Rookie ball hitting coach to Rookie ball manager to Dominican Academy director to hitting coach and bench coach for High-A Lake County to his current position as Akron hitting coach, which he¡¯s held for two seasons.

¡°That's so cool,¡± Francona said. ¡°I asked him if he was going to be nervous and he said, 'No!¡¯ I said, ¡®OK, I'm going to ask you again on Monday.¡¯ I can't imagine throwing batting practice on that stage. Because all you can do is screw up. That would be hard. But he was really excited.¡±

Does Betances agree?

¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Betances said, with a smile. ¡°I have a lot of years in the sport. I think it¡¯s the same as throwing BP. He¡¯s the guy who has to put on the show.¡±

Step 3: Righty or lefty?
Ram¨ªrez has other decisions to make, as he¡¯ll need to determine if he¡¯ll bat right-handed or left-handed. As a righty this year, he¡¯s hit just three homers as opposed to his 14 from the left side. In his career, 129 of his long balls have been as a left-handed hitter and 51 have been as a righty.

¡°Still haven¡¯t [decided] yet,¡± Ram¨ªrez said. ¡°I¡¯ll see more how I feel when I get to the ballpark there in L.A. But for now, it¡¯ll be from the right side.¡±

Ram¨ªrez will become the sixth player to represent Cleveland at the Home Run Derby. Albert Belle was part of the fun from 1993-95, Manny Ramirez joined Belle in ¡®95, Jim Thome was there in ¡®97 and ¡®98, Grady Sizemore broke the 10-year spell without a Cleveland player in 2008 and Carlos Santana participated in ¡®19.

No Cleveland player has won the competition, though Belle and Thome lost in the finals in ¡®95 and ¡®98, respectively. No switch-hitter has won the Derby outright (Rub¨¦n Sierra shared the title with Eric Davis in ¡¯89). The only other switch-hitter to make it to the finals was Lance Berkman in ¡¯04.

Ram¨ªrez¡¯s first task will be taking down Soto in Round 1.

¡°He¡¯s a good hitter, but in the end, it¡¯s a competition and nobody can control what happens in the competition,¡± Ram¨ªrez said. ¡°We¡¯ll see what happens. This is a strange game, so a lot of things can happen.¡±