Nick Ramirez, LHP, New York Yankees
Nick Ramirez, the left-handed reliever out of the Bronx, is not the first person that comes to mind when you think of the Yankees pinstripes. But the 34-year-old had quite a surprising and successful season last year for the Yankees.
After making his MLB debut in 2019 for the Detroit Tigers, he bounced around for a few years before being completely out of the Majors for the entirety of 2022. The Yankees took a chance on him, and he repaid their faith by posting a 2.66 ERA over 40 2/3 innings, allowing just one home run and striking out 28 batters.
Ramirez doesn’t have the pitching repertoire that will blow you away, but he is quite effective with it. His sinker sits at just 89 mph, his changeup at 79 mph, and his sweeper at 80 mph. He's able to induce ground balls at a 48.5 percent rate, which allows him to get out of trouble and limit any damage.
He would be an interesting, inexpensive option for the Phillies to take a chance on. They have overhauled their bullpen in recent years and can now say they have one of the hardest-throwing bullpens in the league. It would be interesting to insert a pitcher like Ramirez with a much slower repertoire to counterbalance the other arms in the relief corps.