The Los Angeles Dodgers traded for right-handed relief pitcher Yohan Ramírez on Monday. Despite his ERA of 6.91, the trade could end up being a big win. In a corresponding move, right-hander Eduardo Salazar was designated for assignment after his one appearance in the loss to the San Francisco Giants last Wednesday. Ramírez is out of minor league options which is why he’s on the on roster for the bullpen. In 138 1/3 innings at the big league level, Ramírez has a 4.29 ERA with a 23.5 percent strikeout rate and 12.5 percent walk rate.
Yohan Ramírez Continues to Bounce Around This Season
Ramírez has spent this season between the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles. He threw 14 1/3 innings with 11 runs allowed for a 6.91 ERA between both teams. The right-hander started the season with the Mets, allowing seven runs in 5 1/3 innings, and was claimed by Baltimore on April 13. Ramírez returned to the Mets on May 6 and threw three scoreless innings before being designated again.
How Ramírez Can Contribute to the Dodgers Bullpen
A look at the advanced stats will show a few things. Ramírez could be a sneaky good pick-up and most likely won’t even take a ton of work from pitching coach Mark Prior. A major league reliever needs to strand base runners, not give up home runs, and simply put, get outs.
Ramírez has not been stranding nearly enough runners. With his left-on-base percentage lowered from 93.8 percent his first season to just 55.6 percent this season. However, his batting average on balls in play has risen from .146 back in 2020 to a .342 this season. This could be a big part of the reason that his actual ERA is currently 6.91, though his expected ERA is 3.78. The Mets have the 17th-best fielding percentage in the majors. Moving to the top ten in that category can definitely help a LOB% and ERA.
Stranding baserunners a lot of times involves not giving up home runs and in that department, Ramirez is killing it this season. After giving up almost two home runs per nine innings back in 2021, he’s down to 0.63 this season. Move his ability to keep the ball in the park into Dodger Stadium and you have the potential to have “stolen” a very good middle reliever for next to nothing.
The Dodgers Bullpen So Far
The Dodgers bullpen has been far from a liability so far in 2024. The relief corps are hurt with Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, Joe Kelly and Ryan Brasier all on the injured list. The Dodgers have been no stranger to shuffling the deck with the few final spots of the bullpen. So why did the Dodgers acquired Ramírez after also recently acquiring Anthony Banda and calling up Elieser Hernández?
Los Angeles can’t possibly maintain their bullpen ERA (3.04) ranks third in all of baseball without actually having bodies in the bullpen. They just didn’t have any. The Dodgers rank sixth in saves (15) and second in the league in WHIP (1.052). Their only flaw is haveing the seventh most home runs allowed.
