Yefry Ramirez

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2011
DSL:  169/301/213, 136 AB, 6 2B, 22 BB, 37 K, 2-2 SB

Ramirez played mostly at third, with a little time at first and short, in the DSL.  Other than drawing a good number of walks, he hit very little.

2012
DSL:  2-0-0, 3.28 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 24.2 IP, 6.2 BB/9, 6.6 K/9

Arizona moved Ramirez to the mound, where he pitched in relief.  Not surprisingly, he had control problems.

2013
DSL:  0-6-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 60.0 IP, 2.4 BB/9, 9.3 K/9

Ramirez went back to the DSL, mainly as a starter, and made dramatic improvement, especially with his walk and K rates.

2014
R:  4-2-0, 1.93 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 37.1 IP, 1.0 BB/9, 11.6 K/9
R+:  2-1-0, 4.45 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 30.1 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 5.0 K/9

Ramirez split his season between the rookie level Arizona League and the advanced rookie Pioneer League.  He dominated the former, but saw his K rate drop by more than half in the latter.  He pitched respectably there, though, better than the ERA indicates.  He was hurt by gopher balls, as he gave up better than one every four innings.

2015
R+:  5-5-0, 5.35 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 69.0 IP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.0 K/9

Arizona sent Ramirez back to the Pioneer League and he made strides, despite the ERA.  His K rate was much better, but he was again hurt by the longball, allowing 11.  After the season, the Yankees took him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.

2016
A:  4-2-0, 2.80 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 61.0 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 9.7 K/9
A+:  3-7-0, 2.84 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 63.1 IP, 2.6 BB/9, 9.4 K/9

Ramirez had a breakout season with the Yankees, putting up excellent walk and K rates, and holding opponents to a 183/251/281 line.  Baseball America ranked him 23rd in a solid farm system and the Yankees added him to the 40-man roster after the season.

2017
AA (NYY):  10-3-0, 3.41 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 92.1 IP, 3.7 BB/9, 8.9 K/9
AA (Balt):  5-0-0, 3.66 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 32.0 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 7.3 K/9

At the trade deadline, the Yankees sent Ramirez to Baltimore for international slot money.  He put up similar numbers in AA with both organizations, pitching well without dominating to the degree he had the year before.  The difficulty with gopher balls returned a little, as he allowed 15.  BA ranked him 26th in a bad Orioles system after the season.

2018
AAA:  3-5-0, 3.88 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 72.0 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 9.0 K/9
MLB:  1-8-0, 5.92 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 65.1 IP, 5.0 BB/9, 8.5 K/9

Ramirez split the season between AAA and the majors.  He pitched reasonably well in AAA, but struggled to throw strikes in the majors.  He also had trouble with the longball in Baltimore, allowing one about every five innings.  He made a dozen starts for the Orioles, along with five relief appearances.

2019
AAA (Balt):  1-1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 18.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 12.0 K/9
AAA:  1-4-0, 5.20 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 45.0 IP, 5.8 BB/8, 11.6 K/9
MLB (Balt):  0-2-0, 6.97 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, 10.1 IP, 7.8 BB/9, 9.6 K/9
MLB:  0-0-0, 7.71 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 10.3 K/9

The Orioles sent Ramirez back to AAA to start the season, but called him up after four starts.  He made one start and three relief appearances for Baltimore.  At both locations, he struck out a lot of hitters but had more trouble throwing strikes than before.  The Orioles designated him for assignment in late May and traded him to the Pirates for a PTBNL who turned out to be Patrick Dorrian.  Ramirez spent much of his time the rest of the year in Indianapolis, pitching in a swing role.  The Pirates called him up twice briefly, although he got into only one game.  They called him up for good in late August, although he missed a week and a half with a calf strain.  He pitched poorly for both Indy and the Pirates, struggling to throw strikes and allowing opponents to hit .311 in the majors.

The Baltimore pitching staff was headed for a historically bad season at the time the Pirates acquired Ramirez; the fact that Baltimore was willing to ditch him is a good indication of his ability.  It’s also a good indication of the dismal job the Pirates have done at developing pitching, and that the departed Neal Huntington did at adding pitching depth for 2019.  Ramirez has no options left after 2019 and had no realistic chance of making the team in 2020.  He was outrighted after the season and should become a free agent.