The Dodgers Should Give Reliever AJ Ramos a Look
AJ Ramos was once a feared closer for the Marlins when they were a team that hovered around the .500 mark, not the .300 mark.
After a torn labrum derailed his 2018 season with the Mets, Ramos went unsigned this offseason. He had a pretty ugly 2018, but most of it is to be attributed to injury concerns. Prior to 2018, Ramos was outright dominant.
From the start of his career in 2012 to his trade to the New York Mets in 2017, Ramos posted a 2.88 ERA and 3.31 FIP to along with a really solid mark of 10.5 strikeouts per 9 innings. He was truly a lockdown closer, saving 32 games for the Marlins in 2015 and 40 more in 2016.
He has had walk issues in the past, posting an iffy mark of 4.8 walks per 9 innings in the same span of time mentioned above. However, his numbers have still been there outside of 2018, where his lack of performance was injury-related. Even in 2018, where his ERA was over 6.00, his DRA was a much more reasonable 3.90, hinting that Ramos actually pitched a lot better than what the numbers suggested.
In fact, every year in the big leagues, Ramos has underperformed his DRA. Ramos was always a difficult pitcher to hit and most of the runners that got on against him were by way of the free pass. However, some work with Rick Honeycutt could change that.
Where is AJ Ramos?
It has yet to be seen whether or not Ramos is healthy, but if he is, the Dodgers should call him up to assist their aching bullpen.
https://twitter.com/DanJPreciado/status/1133659322494246914
In a year where the Dodgers have struck out on Joe Kelly and refused to sign any other reliever of value, turning to a guy with very high upside on a minor league deal could not hurt. Instead of looking through the bargain bin, Ramos could be a good play considering he has already ‘done it’ before.
This is still bargain bin to me.At this point itd be worth looking into what Wild Thing Rick Vaughn is up to.
I agree with Wallachfan73 on this!!!! The FO would be pound wise and dollar foolish to make Ramosa an offer until AFTER they kick around some numbers with Kimbrel. Let us not forget, KJ will be a free agent after this season’s end. Go Blue!!!!
Why would Dodger fans – or the players themselves – want a guy who gave up a home run to Bellinger and then intentionally plunk the next batter with the next pitch? ‘Cause that is exactly what Ramos did at Dodger stadium on 5/19/17 in the bottom of the 8th
I agree that they need to do something.
But taking a chance on someone who might not be healthy IS going the bargain bin route.
If Will Smith works out, it could make Austin Barnes an ex-Dodger sooner than expected. He should bring a decent reliever in return.
If you sign him for the remaining of the year then see where it goes you still on losing anything, maybe it might help the dodgers to get Kimbrel and if that’s the case you can have kelly in the 6th, Ramos in the 7th, Jensen in the 8th and Kimbrel to close out the 9th. That would be Murders Row or Death Row.