Wilkin Ramos is an interesting case of pitch shape metrics
Righty reliever creates a very unique perspective for hitters to account for
The Pittsburgh Pirates liked Wilkin Ramos enough that they acquired him twice. He was originally the return in the Tanner Anderson trade with the Oakland Athletics, and then signed again this offseason as a minor league free agent.
In between that, Ramos spent four years in the Pirates’ system (including the 2020 COVID season) before being picked up by the New York Mets during the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He spent two years there before becoming a minor league free agent and re-signing with the Pirates.
We got a look at his pitch metrics while with the Marauders in 2022. It wasn’t a bad season; he posted a 3.88 ERA in 37 games, striking out 58 batters in 51 innings pitched.
The metrics were interesting, especially for a team that seemed to value pitchers who threw from a lower arm slot and/or provided plus extension.
Throwing from a 5.3-release point with a 7.2 extension creates a really unique angle that also produced 18” of horizontal break. It graded out well on the TJStats Stuff+ model. The issue was that he didn’t throw enough strikes with only 40.7% of his pitches charted landing in the zone.
After leaving, Ramos changed a couple of things, creating an even more unique approach for hitters to adjust to.
That’s led to a strong showing in major league spring training, even if it’s only been four games.
Ramos has allowed just one hit, and no walks, in 3.1 innings pitched, striking out a pair of hitters.
Looking at his pitch metrics now in spring training, he’s not only dropped his arm slot on his sinker to 4.8 but also got even more extension.
Having to deal with a sinker that gets 18” of horizontal break from a 4.8 release point and an extension of 7.7 really puts the pitch in a unique category.
When it comes to extension, among major league pitchers, that’d put him in the 100th-percentile. No player had more extension on their sinker than Ramos, with Tyler Glasnow being the closest at 7.5. Looking at his overall extension, only Alexis Diaz of the Cincinnati Reds was better (7.7).
Those combinations have led to Ramos putting up a 2.50-groundout-to-airout ratio this spring (60% groundball rate), something you’d love to see a middle-inning reliever put up.
Ramos most likely won’t be in line to break camp with the team, but his unique arsenal and success so far should put him on the radar for a potential callup at some point this year, should this carry over to the regular season.
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I mentioned this to one of the readers here at PC when Ramos came into a game — back during his first stint, when I was at PC he asked me for photo of himself and a buddy. So I emailed it to him. In the next few days I got about a dozen email requests from other players for photos, which of course was just fine.
That Latin American players always seem like nice kids.
I said it before and I will say it again, getting Ramos back (whom they never should have lost in the first place) was the single best move of this off-season, and other than the Ferguson signing and Lawrence acquisition, the only good move this offseason.