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Yes. My main concern for him is his health. If he only could string together a few healthy seasons...
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What else are you gonna do? Watch the NFL combine?
If, like Predator, you're in town with a few days to kill, here is an Erasmo Ramirez Digest e-zine.
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Revisiting Erasmo Ramirez was published on Fangraphs in early January. Mike Podhorzer is mystified as to why Ramirez would "promote" his slider to #2 pitch, considering the changeup is established as "killer." But Podhorzer points out the implications, if Ramirez could add a second wipeout offspeed pitch.
As you know, Doug Fister did this over the course of his first 50 MLB starts: groove in the fastball, then the changeup, then the curve and slider.
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Ryan Divish at the Seattle Times, a few days ago, documented the cause of Erasmo's 2013 struggles. Physical problems, leading to mechanical issues, and "I just couldn't get the feel." All of which is exactly right.
It's not like you can see the problems with his delivery in 2013. It's more something you sense, in the fluidness and followthrough. He just looked so white out there, if the term is still in use.
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Here is a Sept. 2013 game report that fleshes out the 2013 backstory.
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A quick look at the SSI hashtag, on this pitcher, shows some 50+ articles that Dr. D has written on him. HEH!!
Here is the original POTD series on him, from February 2012. Looked like a short Doug Fister to us. We think the evidence has come in on our side on this one....
Here is a February 2011 mosh off of BaseballHQ's minor league report, back when Erasmo Ramirez was, um, a minor leaguer.
Here is a February 2012 movement chart. He gets a ton of armside movement on the fastball and change; the slider and curve break unusually hard into lefties.
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Here is a Fangraphs article, from a few weeks ago, declaring that the Mariners' #3-5 starters will be Erasmo, K-Pax and Taijuan behind the two aces. All three of them, together.
Good on Fangraphs; that's SSI's default rotation, also, with Scott Baker or Brandon Maurer taking a couple of starts for Iwakuma. The conventional wisdom is that Erasmo, followed by two rookies, "is a recipe for disaster" ...
... but ...
- What KIND of disaster, like an A's-style disaster, where you have the pressure of competing in a pennant race?
- If K-Pax imploded, you couldn't swap him out for Baker? In this roto league, do you set rotations twice a year?
- What would be the NATURE of the disaster? Like, maybe you could lose 94 games or something if you got too adventurous?
Drop a pair,
Dr D