Red Sox Invite Noe Ramirez to Spring Training

More from Red Sox Prospects

(pronounced No-EH) is one of the Red Sox minor leaguers to be invited to their 2015 Spring Training camp. While names like

Henry Owens

and

Brian Johnson

might be more familiar to Red Sox fans, Ramirez success in his minor league career has not gone unnoticed by the Red Sox, who invited him to Spring Training for the second time. Ramirez was also one of the prospects invited to the organization’s 2014 Rookie Development Program which tries to acclimate young players into what it is like be a major leaguer. In 2013, Ramirez pitched for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, the Red Sox affiliate there.

Ramirez is a right handed pitcher who spent his 2014 season with the AA Portland Sea Dogs. With Portland he saved eight of the wins recorded by Owens and Johnson while posting a nifty 2.14 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, walking only 16 while striking out 56 in 67.1 innings. Ramirez notched a total of 18 saves in 21 chances, all three of those blown saves coming in a bad two week stretch in July.

Ramirez was drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 draft by the Red Sox out of Cal State Fullerton who gave him a chance despite his poor grades in his East Los Angeles high school. He posted a 29-7 record over three seasons there striking out 322 in 307.2 innings with a 2.57 ERA. After an ordinary 2012 starting for Single A Greenvile, 4.15 ERA in 15 starts, Ramirez converted to the bullpen. As a reliever, Ramirez flourished in 2013, posting a 2.38 ERA between High A Salem and AA Portland, striking out 75 in 75.2 innings while saving six games.

The pitch that gives Ramirez a shot at the majors is a devastating change up that he learned in college, which was refined in his senior by fellow Cal State Fullerton alum, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero who was an All-Star in Toronto in 2012. The speed of the change up is ten miles per hour slower than his fastball which sits in the low 90s. In addition to the change of speed, the movement on the pitch is like a split fingered fastball which makes it especially effective.

Considering his progression through their minor league system and history of success, while Ramirez is not on the current 40 man roster, if he pitches well in Spring Training, an opportunity should be waiting for him, if not in Boston then on another club that needs middle relief help. Ramirez is eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the season, which would allow another team to take him from the Red Sox organization if he is not on their 40 man roster.

Stay tuned to BoSoxInjection.com for profiles of upcoming prospects and all the developments which shape the 2015 Red Sox roster they take north with them in April.