Noe Ramirez (baseball)

Noe Ramirez (born December 22, 1989) is an American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Listed at 6'3" (1.90 m), 205 pounds (93 kg), Ramirez bats and throws right-handed.^[1] He was rated as having the best changeup in the Red Sox organization by Baseball America following the 2011 season.^[2]

Career

The Red Sox selected Ramirez in the fourth round (142nd overall) of the 2011 draft out of Cal State Fullerton,^[3] where he posted a 8-4 record with a 1.69 earned run average and 103 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .179 batting average in 13 starts and one relief appearance as a junior with Fullerton in 2011. For his efforts, Ramirez earned second team All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball and was named to the All-Big West Conference first team in the same season.^[3] Besides, he pitched for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2010,^[4] earning the silver medal at the FISU World University Baseball Championships held in Tokyo, Japan.

Ramirez throws his three pitch repertoire with good command and control of each offering. He features a deceptive delivery from a low three-quarters arm slot and hides the ball well until the point of release, making him especially tough for right-handed hitters to pick up his 89-92 mph fastball, and is considerably effective at getting left-handed hitters out with his solid 82-84 mph changeup, which he can throw in any count and uses it to keep all batters off-balance.^[5]

Ramirez debuted as a starter in 2012 and had a record of 2-7 with a 4.15 ERA for the Class A Greenville Drive,^[1] but the Boston organization turned him into a reliever the next year and was promoted to the Class High-A Salem Red Sox. Ramirez went 2-1 with a 2.11 ERA and three saves at Salem and finished the season with the Double A Portland Sea Dogs, where he registered a mark of 1-1 with a 2,83 ERA and six saves. Overall, Ramirez did strike out 75 batters and gave 17 walks over 75⅔ innings pitched.^[1] Besides, he was selected to the Rising Stars game of the Arizona Fall League during the postseason.^[5] His breakthrough season came in 2014, when he finished 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA and saved 18 games in 21 opportunities for Portland, being named to the Eastern League All-Star game.^[5] He also led the league's relievers in innings pitched (67⅓), finished third in saves, and not allowed a home run in 42 games.^[6]

From 2012 through 2014, Ramirez has posted a 7-10 record with a 2.93 ERA and 24 saves in 95 games, including a 1.15 WHIP and a 4.00 K/BB ratio (216-to-54) in 230.0 innings of work.^[3]

Ramirez joined the Triple A Pawtucket Red Sox in 2015. On June 17, Ramirez surrendered a home run in a game against the Charlotte Knights. It was the first home run he had allowed since August 6, 2013, a span of 59 appearances and broke a string of 96⅔ innings without allowing a homer.^[3]

Ramirez earned a promotion to the Boston Red Sox on July 3, 2015 and made his major league debut on the same day, throwing one inning of relief against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park. He allowed four runs – three earned – on three hits and a hit batsman, striking out one and was credited with the loss. Ramirez was reassigned to Triple-A the next day.^[7]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or MiLB.com
• Noé Ramirez on Twitter