He said this in that incredulous tone of type that said he suspected the Yellow Springs front office as being disingenuous. We get it, of course. Ramos’s movement is at question today, and for those GMs who worship unilaterally at the house of Movement, that’s a non-starter.
It’s not the first time that Ramos, a 6’3”, 190 pounder from Cuba, has been discounted, though. Back in the day he had a fastball that hit 88, and a severe lack of control. He was drafted as an afterthought in the 20th round of the 2032 draft, but went back to school in Australia rather than sign on. He then went undrafted a year later. Scouts all said ths Stuff was of mild interest, but that he still couldn’t find the plate.
He chose his only option to stay in the game, a low-rent minor league deal with the Yellow Springs Nine.
Funny things have happened since then, though.
After working with minor league coach Eric Tucker, Ramos found a circle change in 2033. That improved his existing change up (that many scouts already through was outstanding). The control came in then, and the circle change got better still. Suddenly scouts thought the Stuff, once rated 8 or 9 as a reliever was now a first-rate 10 as a starter. In November YS9 scouts graded his control to be a major league elite “8,” , however, during that same great Movement Purge of the winter, changed that movement talent down a notch to the dangerous “4” level.
Now comes word that those same scouts have reassessed Ramos and say he’s notched his movement back up to a “5” (which is the new six, is it not?) This means that at 20 years old, Ramos sits at 10/5/8 as a starter. The team expects he’ll start the season at A-Fort Worth, but could be headed for AA-Santa Clara soon enough.
So, is Ramos a real prospect?
“He’s got a long way to go, but right now he projects a little like Alfredo Contreras,” said one scout, comparing Ramos to one of Seattle’s better pitchers. We admit that this sounds pretty good. Still, at 20 years old, who’s to say what will come of the young Cuban, but right now fans are going delirious with visions of a future rotation that includes Carlos Valle, Curt Phillips, and, yes, Ernesto Ramos.
