Phillies 2017 Season Preview: Relief Pitcher Edubray Ramos

Coming off a strong rookie campaign Phillies reliever Edubray Ramos looks to make a serious impact on the bullpen in 2017. Expect him to solidify his place as a late-inning non-closer who can effectively retire lefties and righties.

When the Phillies placed a little-known Edubray Ramos on the 40-man roster in November of 2015 it raised a lot of eyebrows. Who is this guy and why exactly did the team feel the strong need to protect him? After all, at that point he had only logged ten innings above A- ball and he just got shelled in the Arizona Fall League, giving up eight runs in 9.2 innings.

But as it turns out, it appears they knew what they were doing. Ramos spent the beginning of the 2016 season at Double-A and then moved on to Triple-A where he pitched 23.2 innings and gave up one run for an 0.38 ERA.

Then Ramos got the call. Personally, I was very excited for this Ramos to come up. Like most, I hadn’t known a lot about him before they placed him on the 40-man roster but after that I began to follow him a bit more closely and I was really impressed. I still believe he’ll be a top flight reliever in the majors before too long.

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Ramos instantly had an impact on the Phillies major league bullpen. Manager Pete Mackanin would frequently call on him for the seventh inning and he’d shut it down.

Ramos had one rough outing all year. In Colorado’s infamous hitter friendly park he gave up five runs while only recording one out. That one outlier of an appearance though throws off what would be an outstanding stat line.

As a whole he finished the season with a 3.83 ERA but if you take out that one appearance at Coors Field his ERA for the season would be more than a full run lower at 2.72.

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Ramos managed a strike out per inning last year and was able to keep walks to a minimum, giving up only 11 in his 40 innings pitched. He was also stingy with the hits, allowing only 36 in those 40 innings. The two stats combined gave him a WHIP of 1.175.

Expect Ramos to continue on his current trajectory and be a valuable member of the revamped Phillies bullpen, a group that includes new members Pat Neshek and Joaquin Benoit. Those added pieces should give Mackanin more trustworthy arms to call on and take some of the load off of not only Ramos but Hector Neris as well.

The added depth should allow Mackannin to mix and match several of the guys for various late inning appearances without having to adhere to a strict script.

Next: Phillies 2017 Spring Preview: Starting Pitcher Jake Thompson

As the 2017 season gets underway in a couple weeks, keep an eye on Ramos and his development as a Phils reliever.