Neil Ramirez’s stay on the bereavement list proved to be the minimum three days, and now he’s back with the big league team.
That means it’s the end of the current stay for reliever Spencer Patton, who got into action yesterday, and was not altogether successful. Of course, sample sizes of “one appearance” don’t really tell you much of anything. Patton will return to Iowa, where he’s been crushing it, and will presumably still be the first in line to join the big league bullpen if and when there’s a need.[adinserter block=”1″]
As for Ramirez, he returns to a 4.50 ERA, 4.91 FIP, and 5.07 xFIP over six innings and six appearances (also a tiny sample). All three of the runs he’s given up came in his last two appearances, and in one of those he actually struck out the side. Which is to say, I’m still not quite sure we know where Ramirez is in his recovery from a lost 2015 season. His velocity is still down a few ticks from his breakout 2014 season, and is actually a touch down from last year, as well. That doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t move upwards as the season goes on – it has before – and it also doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t be effective without elite velocity. We just don’t really know.