Yohan Ramirez was a great story for the Dodgers earlier this season. Lately he's begun to falter though, and Dave Roberts cannot continue relying on him to get LA out of tough spots.
Ramirez debuted for the Dodgers on May 21 and allowed no runs on two hits in 2.0 innings against the Diamondbacks. On May 24 he struggled badly, allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and two hit batters while not recording an out against the Reds.
Roberts went back to Ramirez a couple days later and again Ramirez struggled to find the zone, hitting a couple batters and allowing another hit. The Dodgers manager went to the mound in a viral moment and chatted for a long time with the reliever before Ramirez finished off the inning.
That outing sparked a string of consistently strong performances from the big right hander. From May 29 through June 15 he appeared in nine games and pitched 12.0 innings, allowing six hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out nine. His ERA through that 1for Ramirez, and it's becoming less and less justifiable for Roberts to go to him with leads and games on the line.
From June 18 through July 14 (the start of the All-Star break), Ramirez threw 13.0 innings in 13 appearances. He gave up 17 hits and seven earned runs over those outings and opponents hit a whopping .321 against him.
Roberts went back to him Saturday against the Red Sox in Ramirez's first outing since the second half resumed. LA led 1-0 when he entered the game with nobody on and one out in the fourth.
He managed to get out of the inning, but not before allowing three hits and two runs (both earned), with a walk and a strikeout. That makes his ERA since June 18 a sizable 6.13 in 14 outings.
This isn't to say that Ramirez shouldn't be in the bullpen. He's still striking out hitters at a good clip and his control hasn't suddenly eluded him. Those are both signs that he could trend back in the right direction at some point. It's also not to say that Ramirez lost the Dodgers the game by allowing two runs in the fifth inning.
He was instrumental in the pair of late losses to the Tigers to close out the first half though, which is from where much of this is derived. Saturday was a huge opportunity for him to get back on track in a pretty low-leverage situation and he still struggled to get outs.
Ramirez has some things to work out and if he does he's proven this year that he can be a nice piece of good LA bullpen. For now though, he's not that guy and Roberts can't keep leaning on him to be that.
