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The 2017 Roster Recap Compendium

Brett Cowett — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 13:00:33 +0000

During the offseason, we here at BP Boston run a series called Roster Recaps, in which we detail the year that was for every player that graced the major league roster in 2017. Some you might vividly remember (Chris Sale!), while others you’ll struggle to recall what they did (Ben Taylor… ?). For the players in the latter category, we’ve got you covered. If you feel like looking back on some good times, we’ll accommodate you too.

Presenting the full list 2017 Roster Recaps, listed with the authors that wrote them. An asterisk denotes a player who has, as of March 13th, dearly departed the Red Sox. We’ll miss them all terribly.

Catchers

Sandy Leon (Cam Ellis)
Blake Swihart (Jake Devereaux)
Christian Vazquez (Brett Cowett)

Header photo by Winslow Townson — USA TODAY Sports

Roster Recap: Noe Ramirez is Another Reliever

Daniel Poarch — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 14:00:43 +0000

We’re nearing the end of our Roster Recap series here at B-Pro Boston. This is my fourth contribution to this particular series, with Noe Ramirez joining Rajai Davis, Roenis Elias, and Kyle Kendrick on the list of players to whom I’ve turned a critical eye. The most interesting players on the roster were covered here quite early — you don’t want to kick off your offseason series with Rajai Davis’ 18 games, after all — but it means the pickings have become pretty slim. Writing about Mookie Betts is a fun time, because Mookie Betts himself is fun. Writing about Roenis Elias? Well, it still can be, but you have to find the right way to go about it.

I’m writing about Noe Ramirez here, I promise. But first, some fun facts about the ragtag band of journeymen I’ve covered so far. In 2017, players that have been recapped by your’s truly…

played in 23 total games
pitched 13.1 innings
surrendered 14 earned runs
scored seven runs
allowed three home runs
hit zero home runs
struck out eight batters
were struck out 14 times
allowed a batting average of .350
batted .242
posted a combined WAR of 0.1

I believe it is actually impossible to draw up a four-man group of players on this roster who had less of an overall impact on the franchise than these four. Three of the four are no longer with the organization, after all, and the only one that remains (Elias) is far from guaranteed to make the majors in 2018. The only other pitchers to pitch fewer innings than Kendrick — who paced this group with a whopping 8.2 innings pitched — were Carson Smith (who will contribute this year), Kyle Martin (who is still here, at least as minor league filler), and Mitch Moreland (the starting first baseman). Three hitters recorded fewer plate appearances than Davis: Steve Selsky (who was pretty bad but is still around), Blake Swihart (a post-hype sleeper), and Chase d’Arnaud (who needed one plate appearance to top Davis in fWAR). It’s the perfect storm of both barely playing and playing terribly.

How do you write 35 words for every plate appearance Rajai Davis made this season? How do you make an entire article out of Roenis Elias’ two batters faced? In some ways, these are the best Roster Recaps — it’s like writing with the difficulty set to Very Hard. I have a sense of investment in these guys now; it’s about finding value in the little things. They might be bad at baseball, but they’re great at being my baseball sons.

Or something. I don’t know, it’s 23 games, man!

Let’s talk about Noe Ramirez, or something.

What Went Right:

Not much. Ramirez’s best performance of the season came after being claimed by the Angels, where he posted a 2.16 ERA and struck out 32% of the batters he faced… in 8.1 innings pitched. As a minor leaguer, Ramirez was fine; a 3.51 ERA and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings is pretty okay, but it’s nothing spectacular. I guess it sucks a little bit to lose a very cheap reliever with a good minor league track record under team control through 2023, but there was really nothing about Noe Ramirez’s 2017 that the Red Sox will miss.

What Went Wrong:

The great irony of me recapping Noe Ramirez is that Ramirez was waived in August to make room for one of my previous recaps: Roenis Elias. When you’re waived for the guy who faced two major league batters all season, you probably had a rough year.

Ramirez is basically just a Quad-A reliever, which is probably the least valuable kind of Quad-A player. He pitched hundreds of innings for Boston’s farm system and had a fairly strong track record, but any time he came up to the big show, he got shelled. Interestingly, each of his three major league stints (2015, 2016, and 2017) lasted exactly 13 innings. This was certainly the best one, but it still came with a FIP north of 4.00. It’s a shame that a long-time organizational guy like Ramirez didn’t stick with the major league squad, but considering he’s now 28 years old, it’s not much of a loss.

What to Expect:

Well, Noe Ramirez is an Angel now, so for the Red Sox… nothing. Maybe he finally sticks around in Los Angeles and contributes in some kind of middle relief role, but more likely, I’d expect 60 innings in Triple-A with a respectable ERA and some strikeouts. Not great, not terrible, just fine. That should be the subtitle for all these recaps, honestly.

Photo by Kelley L Cox — USA TODAY Sports

Game 15: Rays 12, Red Sox 8

Matt Collins — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 12:10:41 +0000

Not only was that a weird, painful game, but it also took 17 hours to complete*. David Price gave up a big lead, John Farrell was super weird with the bullpen, and the offense fell asleep for a few inning. It wasn’t an ideal way to end a home stand, is what I’m trying to say.

*Don’t fact-check this.

Top Play (WPA)

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but the biggest play of the game was the one in which the Rays gained the lead. With William Cuevas in the game (we’ll get to that in a minute) and a tied score in the top of the eighth, Steven Souza came to the plate with Desmond Jennings at first base and two outs. Unsurprisingly, the pitcher in his first career appearance couldn’t come through in the game’s biggest moment, and Souza launched an RBI double (+0.283) off the Monster, giving the Rays a 9-8 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Bottom Play (WPA)

We obviously can’t put this all on Cuevas not coming through in that spot, though. The Red Sox had a chance to at least tie the game back up in the bottom half of that inning. After Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz reached base with one out, Hanley Ramirez and Travis Shaw had a chance to come through in the clutch. First, Ramirez hit a rocket, but it went right at Logan Forsythe (-0.120) for the second out. Then, Shaw, who tied the game up just one inning prior, flew out (-0.124) right at the base of the Monster to end the inning and Boston’s rally.

David Price’s Rough Day

The Red Sox gave David Price a lot of money to be their ace, and the early returns have not been great. Clearly it’s too early to be concerned about this, but there’s no denying that he looked off on Thursday. Even with strong stuff in the first two innings that led to an early barrage of whiffs and strikeouts, he was still having trouble locating. Consider that the first four at-bats of the game included three well-hit balls and one hit-by-pitch. It all fell apart in the fourth, as he left seemingly every pitch up in the zone and allowed five runs in the frame before exiting with two outs. Assuming he’s not broken, that should be the worst we see from Price in 2016.

What is John Farrell Doing with the Bullpen?

In this writer’s humble opinion, John Farrell gets a little too much grief from the Red Sox fan base. He didn’t help his cause on Thursday. After Matt Barnes did a solid job of keeping Boston within reach after Price’s early exit, the manager called up William Cuevas for his major-league debut in a one-run game in the seventh inning. It seemed weird, but they wanted to avoid using Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. Then, after the Red Sox tied it up in the seventh, Farrell stuck with Cuevas for the eighth. To make matters weirder, Uehara started warming up. Of course, Cuevas would give up the lead in that frame. But wait, there’s more! Uehara would never come in the game, with Cuevas instead getting another inning coming out for the ninth. He and Noe Ramirez would eventually combine to give the Rays an insurmountable lead. You can’t really blame two pitchers who were over their head. Farrell has some explainin’ to do about this one.

Mookie’s Back

For some good news, Mookie Betts continued Wednesday’s offensive comeback. After a rough start to the year, he’s starting to come to life. He collected two hits on Thursday, including one huge home run that brought Boston within one in the sixth.

Travis Shaw Is: Good

If you’re anything like me, you were a little worried about Travis Shaw as the every day third baseman. He’s putting all of those concerns to bed one day at a time. As if his .340/.411/.540 line wasn’t good enough, he’s also proving to be a surprisingly talented fielder.

Coming Next

The Red Sox head to Houston tonight to take on Astros, one of the preseason favorites to take home the AL crown. They’ve gotten off to a surprisingly poor start this year, and the Red Sox will look to continue it. Friday’s matchup will pit Steven Wright against Collin McHugh, with the first pitch coming at 8:10 ET.

Photo by David Butler II/USA Today Sports Images

Game 11 Recap: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 3

Ben Carsley — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 11:00:19 +0000

Steven Wright was great. Aaron Sanchez was better. The Red Sox tried to rally late, but John Farrell made life harder than it needed to be all game long. The result was as expected.

Top Play (WPA): With one out in the top of the seventh inning, Josh Donaldson doubled off of Noe Ramirez (.135), driving in Ryan Goins to push the score to 5-1. A Jose Bautista homer in the fifth counted as Toronto’s second-best play of the day (.098), while RBI singles by Chris Colabello in the first (.094) and Edwin Encarnacion in the seventh (.083) also helped solidify this one for Toronto.

Boston’s best play came courtesy of Mookie Betts, who singled home Marco Hernandez with two outs in the fifth (.106). That run scored was part of a really nice MLB debut for Hernandez, who got on base twice, stole a base, took another base on an error and looked competent in the field. If only he was dressed appropriately for the weather.

Bottom Play (WPA): In the bottom of the ninth inning, John Farrell inexplicably let Chris Young face Roberto Osuna. Young had a good at-bat, but, as expected, he eventually struck out for the worst WPA play of the day (-.049). Other damaging plays include a Hanley Ramirez strikeout in the fourth, an Ortiz fly-out in the sixth and a Shaw fly-out in the fourth.

There’s not much to see here. That will happen when you’re held hitless until the fifth and only record four hits all day.

Key Moment: Hanley Ramirez led off the bottom of the ninth with a bloop single, and Travis Shaw followed that up with a two-run homer into the bullpens, his first bomb of the year.

Then the Young strikeout happened. Osuna is a good closer, and the odds that the Red Sox would be able to score another two-plus runs wouldn’t be good no matter who’s batting. But that Farrell would let Young and later Ryan Hanigan bat for themselves with Brock Holt and Dustin Pedroia sitting on the bench is … troubling. There were whispers that Holt might be sick, but in his post-game presser, Farrell simply said he wanted Young to get the at-bats, which is a pretty weak line of reasoning that late in the game.

Trends to Watch: It’s always easy to second-guess a manager when his moves don’t work out, but Farrell made a few decisions yesterday that were questionable from the get-go. For one, there was starting Young — who absolutely, positively can’t hit RHP — over Holt. Yes, Young has barely played this year and you can’t sit him forever, but the Red Sox are facing a lefty today and tomorrow. One more game wouldn’t have killed him.

Next, there’s bringing Noe Ramirez into a one-run game with a runner on to face the heart of Toronto’s order in the sixth. Ramirez is either the worst or second-worst arm in Boston’s bullpen (I’m looking at you, Robbie Ross) and while the sixth inning is a bit early to bring in your big guns, going to Ramirez shows a lack of understanding of leverage on Farrell’s part.

If you want a good trend to cling to, how about Steven Wright? The knuckleballer hurled his second consecutive quality start against one of the best lineups in baseball and continues to serve as Boston’s most underrated pitcher. He’s not someone you count on every five days in an ideal work, but at this point, it’s reasonable to prefer him to Joe Kelly when Eduardo Rodriguez returns.

Coming Next: Clay Buchholz and J.A. Happ will face off in the final game of this series tomorrow morning. Sounds like a high-scoring matchup to me, which means the Red Sox will lose 1-0. Hopefully someone will teach Farrell about pinch-hitting and bullpen usage between now and 11 a.m.!

Photo by Bob DeChiara/USA Today Sports

Game 2 Recap: Indians 7, Red Sox 6

Brett Cowett — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:58:42 +0000

Not the most inspiring follow-up to Opening Day, but a fun game nonetheless. The Red Sox looked good at times, but problems that carried over from 2015 came back to nip them in the bud this time. Also, Mike Napoli.

Top Play (WPA): In the bottom of the seventh, Mike Napoli took a hanging forkball from Junichi Tazawa and sent it to the moon.

That’s a pretty familiar sight. Napoli’s homer was worth .230 WPA, 50 points higher than the next play, which was also a Indians homer – and that one was by Carlos Santana in the first inning. Karma is a thing, I guess, so it’s only right that Napoli would resume his Sox-killing ways instantly upon facing them in 2016. It’s not terribly surprising to see the top play in the game come at the expense of the bullpen, but there a little bit of a mood whiplash, especially after how well the unit performed in the first game.

Bottom Play (WPA): We have a tie! Dustin Pedroia and Pablo Sandoval both had fly outs that each had a -.071 WPA, although they occurred in totally different situations. Pedroia flew out to Collin Cowgill to start off the ninth against Cody Allen, and considering how filthy Allen was for the rest of the inning – did you see that insane 0-1 curveball to Xander? – that all but killed any potential rally.

Sandoval’s fly out happened in the top of seventh. With Hanley Ramirez having hustled his way to third base, Sandoval got good wood on a Zack McAllister pitch, but hit it right to Jose Ramirez. That was the last real chance the Sox had at scoring. Pablo made some solid contact, it just wasn’t placed right.

Also, this has nothing to do with WPA but seems like a good spot to mention that Clay Buchholz was bad. Smh, Clay.

Key Moment: Yan Gomes working a walk out of Noe Ramirez to start the bottom of the sixth inning. This was the beginning of the end for the Sox in this one. Marlon Byrd hit a single in the next plate appearance, pushing Gomes to third, and Juan Uribe was able to hit a deep fly ball for a sac fly to knot the game at six. Walking the leadoff batter is never good, and in Ramirez’s case, it cost his team the lead.

Trend to Watch: Yes, the pitching was bad and we should feel bad, but the more positive trend of note here is Hanley Ramirez’s hitting. After Ortiz demolished a Carlos Carrasco offering to the bullpens, Hanley joined in on the fun.

That didn’t even look like it was hit all that hard.

Jerry Remy remarked on how different Hanley has looked this year, noting a more composed, less violent stance and approach to making contact. We had a glimpse of this in the previous game, as Hanley blasted a double to right field that was roughly a foot from going out, give or take a few inches. It’s a welcome change to a guy who looked uncomfortably stiff at times in 2015, even when he was fully healthy.

Coming Next: The Great Stuff Haver, Joe Kelly, faces off against Danny Salazar in the rubber match in Cleveland. Will Kelly share his stuff with the Indians offense? Or will the Dzar be the only one to have any stuff?

Photo by David Richard/USA Today Sports Images

Roster Recap: Noe Ramirez Reaches Boston

Max Sandgrund — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 12:52:09 +0000

Welcome to BP Boston’s Roster Recap series! Over the next four months, we’ll be breaking down every player on Boston’s 40-man roster and many of their top prospects in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the Red Sox roster’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as what we can expect moving forward. There’s no better time than the offseason to review the best (there was some best!) and worst (there was a lot of worst!) of the past year in red and navy. You can see previous editions of Roster Recap here.

Noe Ramirez reached Boston for the first time last season, appearing in 17 games and, outside a couple difficult outings, pitched 13 strong innings out of the bullpen for the 2015 Red Sox. For those aware of Ramirez’s background, reaching Boston at all was a miracle in and of itself, and it is because of his background that no one should count him out moving forward.

The 26-year-old Ramirez grew up in Ramona Gardens, a housing project in East Los Angeles termed one of the most dangerous in all of California. In fact, Ramona Gardens was once described as a “bleak bastion of crime” by the Los Angeles Times. The dirt field in Ramona Gardens is where Ramirez learned how to throw a baseball, and Ramona Gardens is where Ramirez learned what pressure felt like, which is important considering his potential role as a reliever for one of the most demanding baseball media markets and fan bases in the game.

Ramirez played college ball at Cal State Fullerton and was taken by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. The 6’3” Ramirez has a quick and deceptive delivery, throwing the ball from a low arm slot and hiding the ball very well until the moment of release. Ramirez has three pitches – fastball, changeup and slider – and although none grade out as exceptionally strong, his high mound IQ and deceptive delivery have made him quite effective at getting hitters out.

Ramirez’s first professional season was in 2012 with Greenville, where the Red Sox used him as a starting pitcher. However, after struggling through 16 starts that year, the Red Sox transitioned him to the bullpen prior to the 2013 season and he excelled in the role. Ramirez started out 2013 with Salem, where he pitched 47 innings, struck out 44 batters, walked only nine and compiled a 2.11 ERA. Following this performance, Ramirez was called up to Portland, where he pitched his final 28.2 innings of the 2013 season, all of which were just as good (22 H, 8 BB, 31 K, 2.83 ERA).

Ramirez spent the entire 2014 season with Portland, where he served as their closer and was selected to the Eastern League All-Star team. He finished 2014 with a final line of 67 IP, 56 H, 16 BB, 56 SO and a 2.15 ERA. Needless to say, Ramirez’s first 140 innings of relief work could not have gone better, which is why the Red Sox made him a non-roster invitee to Spring Training and had him open up the 2015 season right on the doorstep of Boston in Pawtucket.

What Went Right in 2015

In Pawtucket, almost everything went right for Ramirez. In early July, Ramirez had compiled a 2.42 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and .217 batting average against for Pawtucket, and found out the Red Sox were not only adding him to the 40-man roster, but also the big league 25-man roster.

Ramirez spent most of July with the Red Sox, but was sent back down for all of August and then called back up when the rosters expanded in September. Despite some struggles during his first MLB stint in July, Ramirez pitched well overall considering it was his first experience with major league hitters.

Although Ramirez finished the 2015 season with a 4.18 ERA for Boston, he compiled a very respectable 3.38 ERA over 14 of his final 17 appearances. Additionally, over the eight innings he pitched in September and October, Ramirez held opponents to a .214 BA. Lastly, although an admittedly small sample size (10 ABs), Ramirez did well against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .200 BA overall.

What Went Wrong in 2015

During his time in Pawtucket and Boston, Ramirez experienced issues with his command. For context, his walks per nine innings was 2.1 in 2014 and 2.0 in 2013. However, in his 42.2 total innings with Pawtucket in 2015, Ramirez’s walks per nine innings increased to 3.8. It was even worse in Boston, though, as Ramirez walked 4.8 batters per nine innings, a completely unsustainable number for a major league reliever.

With that said, Ramirez did see improvement in his command during his second stint in Boston in September and October. Other than an outing in Toronto where he walked two batters in two-thirds of an inning, Ramirez only walked one batter over his final eight innings of 2015. Still, considering Ramirez dealt with command issues in Pawtucket as well in 2015, it is clear this is something the Red Sox and Ramirez will need to watch.

Ramirez also struggled with right-handed hitters during his time in Boston. Over 17 appearances, right-handed hitters registered 42 at-bats against Ramirez, batting .262 overall, with 3 HRs and a .500 slugging percentage.

2016 Outlook/ MLB ETA

The best thing about Ramirez and what may serve him well heading into 2016, besides his high IQ on the mound, is his toughness, his ability to stay even-keeled, learn from his mistakes and be put right back out there in a high-leverage situation. We saw that last year when he had a poor September outing in Toronto, but came back the very next night in the eighth inning of a one-run game to get through the heart of the Blue Jays order. This personality trait could make Ramirez an effective seventh-inning reliever, if he can figure out what plagued him in 2015.

Ramirez is back with the Red Sox this spring, but is on the outside looking in with regards to a spot on the team’s 25-man roster. In Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith, the Red Sox added two right-handers during the offseason. Their presence, along with fellow right-handers, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa, make it tough for the Red Sox to find room or a need for Ramirez. Although there is one spot left in the bullpen for a righty, John Farrell has said he wants someone who can be extended over multiple innings. If true, there are better options vying for the spot, such as Steven Wright and Matt Barnes. Plus, with two minor-league options left for Ramirez, the Red Sox may want to obtain flexibility on the roster and in their bullpen depth by sending Ramirez down to Pawtucket to start 2016.

With that said, he still needs work, which is why it may be in Ramirez’s best long-term interest to start the year in Pawtucket, so he can work on some of the issues that plagued him during his 2015 stay in Boston, such as his command and difficulties with right-handed hitters. Although Ramirez will likely have to wait his turn again this season, he should get his next turn at some point in 2016.

Photo by Gregory Fisher/USA Today Sports Images