Fan favorite Leonardo Ramos mowing them down in AAA, averaging 119 pitches per start.(44.23)

[niles08]

Leonardo Ramos had his moment in the sun last season pitching 4 games for Omaha including one complete game where he tossed over 140 pitches, dazzling opposing batters with his knuckle ball.

Although thought to be a potential starter for the 2044 season at the BBA level, Ramos has spent all of 2044 in the minor leagues, AAA to be exact. Not to be discouraged by his current status, Ramos has gone out at the age of 21 and dominated opposing hitters.

Just how dominant?

He is not only on pace for(close your ears) 246 innings pitched this year as his 7 of his first 13 games have been complete games! He has gone at least 8 innings in all of his starts but one, where he was excused after the 6th inning. His pitch count has routinely gone into triple digits, going over 130 pitches 3 separate times.

Ramos has a 1.76 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.99. His WAR is projected to be 7.8 at the end of the season as he has watched his HR/9 drop to a low of 0.2 home runs allowed per 9 innings, giving up just 2 long balls through his first 107 innings pitched on the year. His BB/9 have also dropped to just 2.8/9 while his K/9 have risen to 6.4/9.

Ramos is an incredibly fun pitcher to watch so despite scouts calling Ramos a below average pitcher, critics will continuously push Omaha to bring him back up and give him a spot in the rotation.

[bcslouck]

So of course AAA is a step down so it makes sense he's pitching better. But that's really good numbers despite the rating. Any chance the C down there is making an impact for him? 11 rating and 9 ability. If you call up Ramos, I'd call him up to to be his personal C and see if that helps.

[bcslouck]

No idea if that would matter in OOTP and you'd have to either do 7 days or have your rotation set to strict and that C on every 5 days so it matches up. OOTP needs to add personal catchers to the game. There are some guys who clearly do better with specific guys.

[niles08]

No idea if that would matter in OOTP and you'd have to either do 7 days or have your rotation set to strict and that C on every 5 days so it matches up. OOTP needs to add personal catchers to the game. There are some guys who clearly do better with specific guys.

Good thought. I hadn’t considered the fact that a catcher could be playing a role in this. I think he had a pretty good one in AAA last year though as well if I remember right. I want to bring him up bad just because he is an interesting guy with poor ratings and a good knuckleball and he’s a lefty. I think if I get the opportunity, he will come up before Ruiz or Silva just for more fun.

[jleddy]

So of course AAA is a step down so it makes sense he's pitching better. But that's really good numbers despite the rating. Any chance the C down there is making an impact for him? 11 rating and 9 ability. If you call up Ramos, I'd call him up to to be his personal C and see if that helps.

When you're dominant, you're dominant, but it's interesting that he has had two starts with the backup catcher (Cortesini) with an impressive ERA, although the walk and K rates tell a different - and likely better - story (small sample size warning):

• Ramos w/ Cortesini at catcher: 2.11 ERA, 4.7 BB/9, 3.7 K/9 (2 starts)

• Ramos w/ Gillette at catcher: 1.69 ERA, 2.4 BB/9, 6.8 K/9 (11 starts)

Ron did a study a few seasons ago how catcher ratings affect strikes and balls, so that appears that likely holds up here.

What's odd is Cortesini (7 rating, 5/7) has a better CERA this year (2.44) than the much better defensively-rated Gillette (11 rating, 9/10), who has a 3.39 CERA. CERA isn't the best stat and it is again a small sample size but odd nonetheless.

[bcslouck]

Small sample size but a massive difference for Ramos.

[recte44]

No idea if that would matter in OOTP and you'd have to either do 7 days or have your rotation set to strict and that C on every 5 days so it matches up. OOTP needs to add personal catchers to the game. There are some guys who clearly do better with specific guys.

There’s an easy solution: 7 day lineups

[CTBrewCrew]

I did my P do somewhat better last season with brewer behind plate

[bcslouck]

No idea if that would matter in OOTP and you'd have to either do 7 days or have your rotation set to strict and that C on every 5 days so it matches up. OOTP needs to add personal catchers to the game. There are some guys who clearly do better with specific guys.

There’s an easy solution: 7 day lineups

Yeah I mentioned 7 days. It's fairly reliable and definitely an option. Still think the personal catcher thing would be a nice touch.