Lost and Found: Yankees Prospect Jose Ramirez
By MiLB.com
Editor’s note: Lost and Found is an offseason series in which one underrated prospect from each of the 30 MLB clubs will be discussed in a short, snappy post.
Lost: Signed at 17 out of his native Dominican Republic, Jose A. Ramirez got through his first three pro seasons OK before hitting a wall at more advanced levels in his fourth.
2011: 21 G — 21 GS — 5.66 ERA — .292 OPP .AVG — 12 HR — 99-to-43 K-BB — 103 1/3 IP at Class A Charleston/Class A Adv. Tampa
Found: It sounds too simple, but the right-hander, who sports a plus fastball (mid-90-mph) and a potentially-plus slider and changeup, kept the ball down in the strike zone in ‘12.
2012: 21 G — 18 GS — 3.19 ERA — .239 OPP .AVG — 7 HR — 94-to-30 K-BB — 98 2/3 1/3 IP at Tampa
So Ramirez was lost, now he is found. Now, about the Yankees returns: Now 22 and the Yanks’ №13 prospect, Ramirez is looking more and more like a member of a Major League rotation. He’s very likely two more full seasons away from that — and probably not more than a №3/4 starter when he gets there — but that’s a lot of value. Even in New York.
