AL’s top two pitchers in ERA since April 19 (min 50ip): Mike Montgomery, SEA – 1.62 Erasmo Ramirez, TB – 2.12 Traded for each other 3/31.
— Dave Haller (@HallerDave) July 9, 2015
That was before Friday’s start against the Houston Astros where Erasmo Ramirez lowered that ERA to 2.07 since April 19th after allowing only one run over six innings, passing Mike Montgomery for the mark in the American League since mid-April. If it weren’t for two bad outings against the Toronto Blue Jays to start the season, Ramirez would have a sub 3 ERA and he wouldn’t be available in more than half of Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Putting 1st 2 starts behind him, Erasmo Ramirez is 8-2 with a 2.07 ERA. Last 5 starts, the only runners that have scored are 3 solo HRs — Jason Collette (@jasoncollette) July 11, 2015
To further that, Ramirez has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his 11 starts since rejoining the Rays’ rotation on May 15th. Heck, he’s allowed one or zero runs in eight of those last 11 trips to the bump. Even better; Six earned runs over his last eight starts (44 IP) and yet his Y! ownership is still only at 25 percent. What makes him for real? Well, Ramirez allows very little contact and it shows in his swinging strike rate and contact percentage as both rank with some of the best names in the game.
Among pitchers with 70 innings, Ramirez has the 11th lowest contact rate and the 12th best swinging strike percentage and you’ll notice he’s mixed in with elite company. Ramirez currently has a 7.49 K/9 over 79.1 innings and he’s cut his four walks per nine in half this season. His ground ball rate over 75.1 innings last season was 37 percent, it’s sits at 48 percent in 2015. I’d say the only knock on Ramirez is that he’s completed seven innings just once this season.
Ramirez is certainly worth an add and I believe he can be more than just a ratio stabilizer. The 25-year-old’s Daily Fantasy Sports price tag has been well worth it of late and when using him keep in mine, left-handed hitters have only mustered a .188 batting average against him this season.
Chris Meaney chats Erasmo Ramirez with the FNTSY Sports Network crew on Fantasy Sports Today.
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