Scouting Seattle’s Erasmo Ramirez

By Bill King
Updated: July 2, 2012

Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife

Scouting Seattle Mariners’ Erasmo Ramirez
6/30/12 vs Boston Red Sox

Over the weekend I had a chance to catch Seattle right hander Erasmo Ramirez. This was my first time seeing Ramirez after hearing a lot about him. He has had some success while being a big leaguer, so I decided to take a look at what he brings to the table.

Pitches–

Fastball:
Natural tail away from LHB and in on RHB.. it has sink to it as well
90-96

Ramirez started in the first sitting mostly 90-93 with his fastball. I didn’t get a chance to see his grip on the ball, but it’s rare to see a guy with this type of movement while throwing this hard. Not only does the ball run, but it has a lot of sink. He’s able to miss bats with it and induce ground balls. When Ramirez got behind or had men on base he was able to dial the fastball up to 94-95 and even touched 96 twice and still maintained the movement. Mostly living up and away to LH‘s and down and away to RH’s. His fastball is a plus pitch when he’s locating it, and he shouldn’t have to be too concerned about leaving it up while pitching in Seattle.

Changeup:
80-83mph

Good down and away fade to LHB. I believe his change can be a put away pitch when located, particularly against left handed batters. Ramirez struck out Ortiz in 1^st with nasty down and in change that had him completely baffled.

Slider:
85mph

Shown to RHB. Small break but tight spin. Had middlebrooks flailing at a low and away slider when shown in a 1-0 count. Once he showed he could locate the pitch, it was tough to Middlebrooks to make the adjustment because of the difference in velocity and movement. The combo of the slider and moving fastball is pretty nasty.

Curve:
75-78

Not a ton of break/depth. More of a show-me pitch to get ahead/change eye level. Only showed the curve to LH’s, slider to RH’s.

Unfortunately Ramirez left in the 3rd inning due to an injury suffered while fielding a ball in play. However, I liked what I saw and I think Ramirez can be a successful big leaguer if he consistently commands his fastball. He has a clean arm motion, but tends to sling the ball. He stays relatively tall through his delivery and gets good drive off of his back end and push off leg. The only concern I have is that he doesn’t get over his front leg very well, which hampers his ability to finish. I noticed that he left several pitches up and away against lefties, which could be a sign that he needs to slow down his body as he completes his delivery. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to arm trouble.

Although Ramirez will likely not develop into an ace, he has potential to be a #3-4 starter in the big leagues, a very valuable commodity for a team with a stockpile of talented arms.