When Tim Williams was writing up his First Pitch the other day about overlooked issues during minor league development, I noted that Harold Ramirez fit that article perfectly. Ramirez gets a lot of notice from his bat, but he also runs well and plays center field occasionally, so he’s considered an exciting prospect. If you look ahead to next year, the Pirates could have both Austin Meadows and Harold Ramirez in Triple-A, with no place for them in the Major League lineup. For Ramirez at least, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Ramirez is only 21 years old, and he has missed a lot of time during his career due to injuries and conditioning. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he isn’t a polished player. His bat is definitely ahead of the rest of his game. This year I’ve watched Altoona more often, tracking pitching outings from Clay Holmes, Tyler Eppler and Brandon Waddell, plus just watching some other random games. That means I’ve seen a lot of Ramirez and what I’ve seen is a lot of mistakes in the field and on the bases.
He doesn’t get good jumps in the outfield, and you can really notice the difference when he plays one day and then Austin Meadows plays the next. Ramirez plays center field because of his speed, but it’s not a position in his future, at least not for the Pirates. His arm has decent strength, but I’ve noticed a lot of throws off line, as well as him setting up poorly to make throws with runners tagging up.
On top of the defensive issues, Ramirez also has his problems running the bases. In the last two years, he is 25-for-44 in stolen bases, and that doesn’t include just normal base running mistakes. He’s not the fastest player, but he has the speed to be better than he is now.
Ramirez compares well to Josh Bell’s defense. Bell’s biggest issues now are things that you learn from game experience and repetition. He is greatly improved over last year, but there are still things that keep him from being an average defender at this point. He makes bad decisions on balls hit to his left, and ones hit between him and the pitcher. It’s led to errors that go down as infield hits because they are mental errors and not physical. That’s not a knock on Bell, it’s just saying that he’s still learning the position.
Ramirez is going to come to Triple-A next year and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits the ball well. Since he’s an outfielder and Austin Meadows might overshadow him on the same team, there won’t be calls to bring him up during the season. In that regard, it’s good for his development.
Ramirez will likely get better with game experience and become a polished player who gets the most out of his tools. The problem will be that most people will only see the offensive stats to his game and not the whole package. The good part is that there is absolutely no rush with him at this point. He may be a trade piece in the future, but a team will give up more for him if they he’s able to step in and play at the majors, as opposed to someone who still needs to iron out the defensive/running issues within his game.
** I’m going to try to include some draft notes each day in the Morning Report leading up to the draft, which is now less than two weeks away. For today, we have an article from Jim Callis, who notes the players who have risen or fallen in this draft class. Among the players making moves, T.J. Zeuch, who is a 6’7″ right-hander from Pitt. He has been mentioned here numerous times. I wrote yesterday about the high school players who have the tools the Pirates look for early in the draft. If the Pirates did go for a pitcher with their early pick, I could see Zeuch, because they love tall, projectable right-handed pitchers. The fact he went to Pitt adds an interesting local flavor to his story, but he is much more than just a good story. In his mock draft last week, Callis had the Pirates taking Zeuch.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton is 6-4 in their last ten games. They are in second place in their division, one game out. The first half of the FSL season ends on June 22nd.
West Virginia is 4-6 in their last ten games. They are in fourth place in their division, trailing first place by six games. The first half of the SAL season ends on June 19th.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 8-3 on Thursday afternoon to sweep the Diamondbacks. They now travel to Texas to take on the Rangers in a three-game series. Jon Niese will make his tenth start tonight. He went seven innings against the Rockies in his last game, allowing one earned run. In his prior outing, Niese allowed two runs over six innings against the Braves. The Rangers will counter with Cole Hamels, who has a 2.83 ERA in 57.1 innings this season. He has a 1.26 WHIP, 62 strikeouts, and hasn’t lost a regular season game since August 7, 2015.
In the minors, Tyler Glasnow makes his tenth start. In his last game, he allowed two runs on eight hits, which is the second most hits he has allowed in a game during his career. He is ninth in the International League with a 2.16 ERA. Glasnow is tied for the league lead with 63 strikeouts.
Cody Dickson gets the start for Altoona after making a relief appearance earlier this week. His mound opponent is Jayson Aquino (Aquino was scratched today), who was on the 40-man roster of the Pirates last year for a short time. Bradenton has a doubleheader today against the team they are chasing in the standings. Logan Sendelbach starts for West Virginia. In six of his nine starts, he has allowed either no runs or one run.
MLB: Pittsburgh (27-19) @ Rangers (27-20) 8:05 PM
Probable starter: Jon Niese (4.75 ERA, 18:39 BB/SO, 53.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (23-22) @ Pawtucket (23-24) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Glasnow (2.16 ERA, 22:63 BB/SO, 50.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (25-20) @ Bowie (18-27) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cody Dickson (4.97 ERA, 28:24 BB/SO, 38.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (24-22) vs St Lucie (25-21) 5:00 PM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: Colten Brewer (4.46 ERA, 19:40 BB/SO, 38.1 IP) and Jose Regalado (5.00 ERA, 4:14 BB/SO, 18.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (23-23) vs Columbia (25-22) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Logan Sendelbach (3.18 ERA, 11:25 BB/SO, 45.1 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is an RBI by Josh Bell from Wednesday night. He hit another double earlier in the game and added a ninth inning single.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/26: Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
5/25: Pirates place Tony Watson on paternity list. Recall Rob Scahill.
5/25: Pirates place Arquimedes Caminero on disabled list. Recall Kyle Lobstein.
5/24: Pirates place Ryan Vogelsong on disabled list. A.J. Schugel recalled from Indianapolis.
5/23: Logan Sendelbach assigned to Extended Spring Training. Jess Amedee added to West Virginia.
5/22: Trevor Williams assigned to Bradenton. Colten Brewer sent to Extended Spring Training.
5/22: Trace Tam Sing added to Bradenton roster.
5/21: West Virginia assigns Ty Moore and Casey Hughston to Extended Spring Training. Logan Ratledge and Sean Keselica added to West Virginia roster.
5/21: Logan Hill demoted from Bradenton to West Virginia.
5/21: Pirates release Eric Karch.
5/21: Juan Diaz assigned to Extended Spring Training
5/20: John Kuchno assigned to Indianapolis. Guido Knudson assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/19: Starling Marte activated from paternity list. Alen Hanson optioned to Indianapolis.
5/19: Elias Diaz placed on 60-day disabled list.
5/19: Wilfredo Boscan added to 40-man roster and promoted to Pittsburgh. Cory Luebke optioned to Indianapolis.
5/17: John Kuchno assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/16: Starling Marte placed on paternity list. Alen Hanson recalled.
5/16: Juan Diaz added to Indianapolis roster.
5/15: Pirates activate Cory Luebke from disabled list. A.J. Schugel optioned to Indianapolis.
5/13: Pirates release Daniel Bard.
5/13: Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis. Pittsburgh Pirates recall Cole Figueroa.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a game recap from the 1979 season. The players born on this date include center fielder Jacob Brumfield (1995-96), pitcher Ross Baumgarten (1982) and 1954 pitcher, George O’Donnell. Brumfield was a 1983 draft pick, who didn’t make his Major League debut until 1992. He was the Pirates starting center fielder in 1995, then got traded away the following May. Baumgarten went 0-5, 6.55 in 44 innings for the Pirates. O’Donnell won 20 games in the minors in both 1951 and 1953, but he managed just three Major League wins in his career.
On May 27,1979, the Pirates opened the day with an 18-21 record, losers of three straight, sitting in fifth place, seven games out of first place. The day didn’t start off well either, with pitcher Jim Bibby leaving the game early due to a strained rib cage muscle. The Pirates ended up beating the Mets that day by a 2-1 score, then they won another five games in a row, turning their season around. After May 27th, they went 80-41, then defeated the Baltimore Orioles in seven games for their fifth World Series title. You can view the boxscore for this game here.
