Edwar Ramírez

Infobox MLB player


width=250
name=Edwar Ramírez
position=Relief Pitcher
team=New York Yankees
number=36
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1981|3|28
birthplace=city-state|El Cercado|Dominican Republic
debutdate=July 3
debutyear=2007
debutteam=New York Yankees
statyear=2008 season
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=6-2
stat2label=Earned Run Average
stat2value=5.07
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=94
teams=
*New York Yankees (by|2007-present)

Edwar E. Ramírez (born March 28, 1981, in El Cercado, Dominican Republic) is a relief pitcher for the New York Yankees.

Minor Leagues

The Angels: 2002-2005

Ramírez was in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim system from by|2002-by|2003 when he was released without advancing past the Single A level. He did not play professional baseball in by|2004.

In early by|2005 he was re-signed by the Angels, but he was quickly released by the club for the second time in his short career after playing in one game for the AAA affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees. [ [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/R/Edwar-Ramirez.shtml Minor League Career Statistics] ]

Independent Leagues: 2005-2006

Ramírez played Independent baseball for the Pensacola Pelicans and the Edinburg Coyotes in by|2005 and by|2006 before signing with the Yankees on July 9, 2006. [ [http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/SPORTS/707020314/1002 "Yankees call up former Pelican", "Pensacola News Journal", July 2, 2007] ] [ [http://www.nypost.com/seven/07012007/sports/yankees/digging_deep_for_bullpen_help_yankees_george_king.htm "Digging deep for bullpen help", King, George, "New York Post" July 1, 2007] ]

In 43 games with Pensacola, Ramírez had a 1.45 ERA, struck out 93 batters and walked only 15 and finished with a record of 2-2 with 11 saves over 62 innings of work. With Edinburg, he threw 25.1 innings of relief over 25 games, finishing with a 1-1 record and 16 saves. He also had 46 strikeouts, 10 walks and a 1.07 ERA. [ [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/R/Edwar-Ramirez.shtml Minor League Career Statistics] ]

The Yankees

Ramírez pitched for the Single A Tampa Yankees for the remainder of the 2006 season. He pitched 32.2 innings, compiled a record of 4-1, an ERA of 1.17 and struck out 47.

He began the by|2007 season with the Yankees' AA affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. In 9 relief appearances he had a record of 3-0 and 1 save, and allowed only 1 run in 16.2 innings, for an ERA of 0.54. He compiled 33 strikeouts and 8 walks. He was promoted to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, where he pitched 26.2 innings of relief in 15 games, allowing on 2 runs over that span (0.67 ERA). He tallied 47 strikeouts and 9 walks in that time. [ [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Edwar2520Ramirez&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=469735 Statistics in the Yankees System] ]

Ramírez was called up to the Major League club for the first time on July 1, 2007. [ [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=nyy&year=2007&month=7 New York Yankees July 2007 Transactions] ] He remained with the club for nearly three weeks, and was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 21.

In his first appearance following his demotion, Ramírez picked up where he left off, striking out two in 1.1 hitless innings, helping Joba Chamberlain hold onto his first career Triple A victory. [ [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t531&t=g_box&gid=2007_07_25_louaaa_swbaaa_1 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre v. Louisville Box Score, July 25, 2007] ]

On October 10, 2007, Ramírez was named the Minor League Baseball Reliever of the Year. [ [http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071009&content_id=309552&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp&partnered=rss_nyy MiLB Reliever of the Year Announcement, October 10, 2007] ] .

Major League Career

In his major league debut on July 3, 2007, against the Minnesota Twins, Ramírez pitched the ninth inning for the Yankees and struck out all three batters he faced, including reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau, securing an 8-0 win for the Yankees. The last Yankee to strike out the side in his debut was Stan Bahnsen in 1966. [ [http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spramirez045280764jul04,0,7188433.story?coll=ny-yankees-print "Yankee Edwar Ramírez debuts by striking out side" Gergen, Joe, "New York Newsday" July 4, 2007] ]

On July 6, against his former club, the Angels, he gave up 1 run on 2 hits in 1.1 innings; as the pitcher of record, he was awarded his first career win in the 14-9 Yankees victory. [ [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070706&content_id=2071819&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy "Yankees outslug the Angels in opener", Breakey, Caleb, MLB.com] ]

In his final relief appearance in his first stint with the major league club, he faced the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 20 he walked four and gave up a grand slam to Dioner Navarro without recording an out, with only 2 of his 19 pitches resulting in strikes. After the game, he was so shaken by his performance that he had to cut short his comments to reporters, and was seen crying at his locker. [ [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070720&content_id=2099214&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy "Yanks knocked around by Rays", Hoch, Bryan, mlb.com] ] He was optioned back to AAA the following day.

On August 15, Ramírez was recalled by the Yankees, striking out three Baltimore Orioles in 2.1 scoreless innings in his return [ [http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=270815110 Baltimore v. New York Yankees Box Score, August 15, 2007] ] .

On August 19, 2007 Ramírez earned his first Major League save against the Detroit Tigers with two hitless innings, striking out the side in the 8th.

On April 18, 2008 he was recalled from AAA and was sent down a day later. He was then called up again on April 29, 2008 and is currently a reliever in their bullpen. [ [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=nyy The Official Site of The New York Yankees: Team: Transactions ] ] He did not give up a run at any level of baseball through May 31.

On July 31, 2008 he threw a 90 mph pitch at Baltimore Orioles batter Kevin Millar leading to a 3 day suspension and a fine

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has taken Ramírez and fellow reliever José Veras under his wing, and is often seen mentoring the two in the Yankee bullpen during games [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/sports/baseball/09rivera.html?pagewanted=2&fta=y "Rivera's a Closer With an Open Heart", Kepner, Tyler, "New York Times", March 9, 2008] ] .

Pitching Style

Ramírez primarily throws a 89-91 MPH fastball with slight lateral movement. His primary strikeout pitch is a low 80s circle changeup that has similar movement to a palmball, and is particularly effective against left-handed batters. He taught himself the change-up during his year-long hiatus from professional baseball in by|2004. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/sports/baseball/05pins.html "Changeup Changes Everything for Yankee", Kepner, Tyler, "New York Times", July 5, 2007] ] He has recently developed a low 80s slider into his repertoire.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=5127 Edwar Ramírez] at Rotoworld.com