César Ramos: Introducing the newest Angels pitcher

Los Angeles Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto traded for three players on Wednesday and we have introduced two of the three so far. The last of the three is César Ramos, who the Angels got from the Tampa Bay Rays for pitching prospect Mark Sappington.

César Ramos was the 35th overall pick in the 2005 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres and made his debut four years later in September, 2009. He spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Padres pitching a total of 23 innings before being traded to Tampa Bay along with Cole Figueroa, Brandon Gomes and Adam Russell for Jason Bartlett.

In his four seasons with the Rays he pitched 223 and two-thirds innings with a 3.66 ERA. Over the last two seasons with the Rays he has pitched 150 innings, to a 3.90 ERA and a 4.00 FIP. Not too big of a difference, which means he isn’t getting too unlucky when it comes to defense. That is what happens with the Rays. They shift a lot, but not always dramatically and put their position players in the correct places to make plays.

Ramos is coming over to the Angels after throwing a career-high 82 innings in 2014 and was just above average with a 101 ERA+. He had a better 2014 season than 2013. He wasn’t just a left-handed specialist for the Rays as he pitched more than two innings in relief thirteen times in 2014. In those appearances he showed success, having a 2.62 ERA.

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In his career he has been better against left-handed hitters than righties, but there isn’t much of a difference when it comes to putting the ball in play. Lefties hit .241, while righties hit .249. Where the difference comes in is the on-base percentage and walks. He has walked 75 righties while just 29 lefties. This could be due to pitching around the righty and face the lefty and feel more comfortable, but that is just my speculation.

Coming over to the Angels he will be in the same role. Jerry Dipoto was quoted as saying “César Ramos will be the first lefty out of the bullpen and a utility bullpen guy”. I like the way Dipoto states that because of the need for more relievers throwing multiple innings. The Angels didn’t do that much in 2014, with only Cory Rasmus doing it double-digit times and no one else more than five times.

I expect Ramos to come down in innings and be in the 60-68 range but still be an effective reliever. He will be a guy that throws multiple innings and has effectiveness. He can also make a start if it is needed as he made seven last season. This is a huge pickup for the Angels and will make them a better team in 2015 than in ’14. Both moves on Wednesday made the Angels a better team going forward.