Ramirez on Fire: 2024 Review – A season of Excellence

Yohan Ramírez pitched for for major league teams in 2024, but was at his busiest while with the Dodgers. His results for Los Angeles ran the gamut, and the right-hander was also part of one of the most heartwarming moments of the regular season.

The 29-year-old started this season with the Mets, then was sold to the White Sox in early April, only to find his way back to New York in early May. On May 20, the Dodgers sent cash to the Mets for Ramírez, and then he got busy.

Ramírez pitched two scoreless innings in the final two innings of a loss in his Dodgers debut, but then things got rocky when the Dodgers hit the road. On May 24, he faced only three batters and hit two of them plus a walk against the Reds, and all three eventually scored. Two days later, also in Cincinnati, Ramírez allowed a two-out single and then hit two more batters.

Dave Roberts visited the mound, but didn’t come with a hook. Instead, he was there for a pep talk, which was accompanied by an embrace of Ramírez while on the mound.

The game wasn’t in the balance, the Dodgers were losing 4-0 in the eighth inning, but it was still a nice moment, and Ramírez got the final out of the frame to escape unscathed.

Ramírez was stunned by the supportive gesture, he told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

“No, that’s never happened to me,” Ramirez said through an interpreter Tuesday. “Honestly, my whole time that I’ve been in baseball, that was one of the best moments, best managers that I’ve ever had. For him to do something like that, it made me feel like he’s more of a mother or father figure.”

After that game in Cincinnati through the end of June, Ramírez allowed only four earned runs in 18⅔ innings over 16 appearances. But it was the volume of his work that also stood out. During his time with the Dodgers, Ramírez pitched in 27 of the 54 games in which he was active. It was just two games shy of the major league lead among relievers during that span.

Ramírez pitched in low-leverage situations, in high-leverage situations, early and late in games, basically whenever someone was needed, he was at the ready. The extremes were evident in a three-day span in June, when he entered in the second inning with the Dodgers trailing by six runs in Pittsburgh, then two days later got the final three outs in the 11th inning to save a win against the Yankees in New York.

That availability didn’t always work out, as it meant Ramírez was out on the mound to take bullets to save his bullpen teammates, before Brent Honeywell turned that into a cottage industry in October. Ramírez pitched all three games of a series in Detroit when the Dodgers ran out of pitchers. After Evan Phillips finished off blowing a five-run lead in the ninth inning on July 13, Ramírez allowed a walk-off home run in the 10th. One day later, Ramírez made two errors in suffering another walk-off loss as the last man standing.

It was part of an ignominious ending for Ramírez, who also allowed two runs on July 20 against the Red Sox then gave up five runs on July 24 to the Giants. After a 3.04 ERA and 3.92 FIP in his first 23 appearances with the Dodgers, 11 runs and nine earned runs over his final four games and only eight outs recorded torpedoed his final numbers.

When Clayton Kershaw was activated from the 60-day injured list on July 25, Ramírez was designated for assignment. Three days later, the Red Sox claimed Ramírez off waivers. He pitched once for Boston before getting designated for assignment again. But any shot of Ramírez pitching for a record-tying fifth team in one season ended when he cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to the minors.

Ramírez ended his season pitching 15 games in relief for Triple-A Worcester.

2024 particulars

Age: 29

Stats: 5.52 EA, 4.50 FIP, 27 G, 29⅓ IP, 27 K, 11 BB, 1 save with Dodgers

Salary: $768,750 (Dodgers responsible for roughly $285,181)

Game of the year

The series opener against the Yankees on June 7 was quite memorable, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching seven scoreless innings and Teoscar Hernández starting his nine-RBI weekend with the game-winning hit in the 11th inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Ramírez allowed an RBI single by Aaron Judge, scoring the free runner, but also struck out two and ended the game with a foul popout to catcher Will Smith, securing his seventh career save.

Roster status

Ramírez elected free agency after the season, and on October 13 signed a minor league deal with the Piratesa.