Monday, May 2, 2011

Texas Rangers Breakout - Neil Ramirez

It’s not often you hear about a prospect moving from Hi-A to AAA in a single day, but that’s what happened recently with Texas Rangers prospect Neil Ramirez.

Ramirez was drafted in the supplemental first round of the 2007 Rule four draft as a 6’ 3’’ high-school right handed with a 91-93 fastball and an above average curveball.  While Ramirez performed well in Low-A Spokane in 2008, he didn’t have the same level of success upon his promotion to Hi-A Hickory in the SALLY league.  Control was the problem for Ramirez as he walked 41 in 66.1 IP. In fact, 2009 was so bad, he was forced to repeat Hi-A in 2010, but by making some mechanical corrections, started to figure things out.

While his 2010 surface stats were not great, including a 4.43 ERA, he struck out 142 in 140.1 IP and walked only 37.  Plus, he improved his curveball and developed a nice changeup to complete the package.  Most impressive, the mechanical change he made pushed his velocity to 92-95 touching 96.

This spring, the Rangers brass openly spoke about how impressed they were with the improved velocity and mechanics of Ramirez.  However, he was assigned once again to Hi-A, but this time in 4.2 IP, he gave up one hit and struck out nine.  For his next start, Ramirez was asked to make an emergency start in AAA and has remained there ever since.  In 21.1 IP, Ramirez is sporting a 1.71 ERA, 25K’s and 8 BB and looks like he belongs.

At age 22, Neil Ramirez appears to be back on the fast track and if he continues to pitch well, could be brought up to the big leagues this summer for a team that will need pitching, unless you think Brandon Webb currently hitting 79-82 on the gun is the answer.  With a plus fastball touching 96, a plus curve, an above average changeup with improving command, it’s time to use the word “Breakout” next to Neil Ramirez.