Results tagged ‘ Jose A. Ramirez ’

From The Mets’ d’Arnaud-Wheeler Duo on Down, Projecting The Minors’ Top 10 Batterymates

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Thinking back on the mid-December trade that brought baseball’s No. 6 prospect (catcher Travis d’Arnaud) to a pairing with baseball’s No. 8 prospect (right-hander Zack Wheeler) got me writing. Below I project the 10 best sets of batterymates throughout the Minors this coming season. You’ll see that the hurler-catcher duos cover nine different leagues.

An advisory: Each player’s name, once clicked, will take you to his bio/statistics page. His organizational ranking as a prospect is the “No.” in parentheses. If you have questions about a particular player, ask away in the comment section and I promise to answer. Also let me know if you agree/disagree with the rankings and present your arguments.

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(Roger D. Peterson)

    1. Mets — Triple-A Buffalo (INT): Travis d’Arnaud (No. 1 in system) and RHP Zack Wheeler (No. 2)
    2. Braves – Triple-A Gwinnett (INT): Chrisitan Bethancourt (No. 2) and RHP Julio Teheran (No. 1)
    3. Mariners — Triple-A Tacoma (PCL): Mike Zunino (No. 3) and RHP Taijuan Walker (No. 1)
    4. Phillies: Triple-A Lehigh Valley (INT): Tommy Joseph (No. 3) and RHPs Ethan Martin (No. 2)
    5. Red Sox: Class A Advanced Salem (CAR) Blake Swihart (No. 9) and LHP Henry Owens (No. 5)
    6. Padres: Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore (CAL): Austin Hedges (No. 5) and RHP Matt Wisler (No. 8)
    7. Rockies: Class A Advanced Modesto (CAL): Will Swanner (No. 8) and LHP Tyler Anderson (No. 6)
    8. Rangers: Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach (CAR): Jorge Alfaro (No. 5) and RHP Luke Jackson (No. 13)
    9. Pirates: Triple-A Indianapolis (INT): Tony Sanchez (No. 16) and RHP Gerrit Cole (No. 1). This omission was pointed out by a thoughtful reader on Twitter.
    10. Yankees — Double-A Trenton (EAS): Gary Sanchez (No. 1) and RHP Jose A. Ramirez (No. 13)

Honorable mention:

Lost and Found: Yankees Prospect Jose Ramirez

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’ No. 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 No. 3/4 starter when he gets there — but that’s a lot of value. Even in New York.

Cliff Welch / MiLB

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