Jays Journal » Welinton Ramirez

Jays Minors Transactions Review: July ’10 to Feb ’11

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:08:16 +0000

With Spring Training kicking off this week, I thought it would be important and interesting to take a look at the last minor league transactions completed by the Jays. In order to get the best feel for what came and went in the minors, I’ll simply include the additions and subtractions from the Jays affiliates. The time period covered below is end of July 2010 to the last week, which I believe gives us a pretty decent review of changes made to the depth charts, some of which may have been missed by Jays fans.

Also, now that we will have covered the latest and greats of the minors transactions over the last 9 months, we will also be updating all Jays minors transactions in our new “Jays Minors Transactions” page, so check back there from time to time if you’re curious about what’s happening in the Jays affiliates and depth chart.

End of July 2010

RHP Bubbie Buzachero – Traded – 5’10″ 180 lbs, 29 years old (more…)

Umpires Are Winning and Losing too Many Games

Mat Germain — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:10:09 +0000

If you haven’t heard the renewed calls for instant replay to play a major role in MLB lately you’ve been away for a while. As bad as I felt for Kevin Gregg and the strike zone shift he had to deal with 2 nights ago – most likely due to a blow up by Joe Maddon that made the ump feel like he needed to give them one back – it pales in comparison to the 2 massive missed calls that occured last night. The Twins, who are in a dog fight to win their division, lost the game on a blown call in the 10th and some would successfully argue that this is worse than the other huge missed call because it cost the team the game. Umpires are not on the field to win or lose the game, but more and more (beginning in late 2009) umpires seem to be going on the field with a chip on their shoulders and are implicating themselves at times and places in the game where they have no business being implicated. (more…)

Hechavarria and Encarnacion Play for Dunedin

Mat Germain — Sat, 15 May 2010 12:37:55 +0000

Newly signed Cuban SS Adeiny Hechavarria finally made his U.S. debut yesterday, going 1 for 5 with 1 strike out while hitting out of the 2-hole. He also turned 1 double play in the game. Fellow infielder Tyler Pastornicky shifted over to 2B in order to accommodate Adeiny and lead off for Dunedin who pulled out an 8 to 2 win against Clearwater in this game.

Edwin Encarnacion also played in this one for his rehab assignment, hitting a solo HR in the 6th inning and getting a walk and 2 runs scored in his 5 ABs. Edwin should get plenty of chances to build up strength in his wrist before the Jays call on him because the team has been on a role of late.

(more…)

Jays Minors Review: 29-Apr-10

Mat Germain — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:37:29 +0000

Here is a review of the major events in the minors for the Jays on Thursday, 29th of April:

AAA Las Vegas – Won 3-1 vs Colorado Springs

The 51s were the recipients of Robert Ray‘s best start of the year. He gave them 6 innings of work, only giving up 5 hits and 1 ER while striking out 4 (no walks). The outing earned Ray his 2nd win of the year and lowered his ERA to 4.57.
Steven Register (5.02), David Purcey (3.00), and Jeremy Accardo (0.00) all chipped in with 1 shutout inning a piece that had Accardo earning his 1st save of the season.
RF Chris Aguila (.311) was 2 for 4 with a double while batting leadoff, and Jarrett Hoffpauir (.324) followed him up with a 2 for 3 day. Of note in this game was that Jarrett manned 3B instead of 2B, adding to his repertoire and possible utility role qualifications.

(more…)

Dunedin’s Joel Carreno Gets 10 Ks Against Tampa

Mat Germain — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:10:37 +0000

As if the Jays needed more great news from their starters after seeing Zach Stewart and Chad Jenkins come through with great outings, they got exactly that from RHP Joel Carreno (4.98) who dominated Tampa (NYY) to earn his first win of the season. His line on the day was outstanding:

6 IP/ 5 hits/ 1 ER/ 1 BB/ 10 Ks

Hopefully Joel can turn this into some form of consistency and earn a promotion to AA this season. He has the stuff to do it, made obvious with this start.

The catchers keep on producing for the Jays, with 22 yr old Yan Gomes (.419) being the star of the day in Dunedin, going 4 for 5 with 2 doubles. Welinton Ramirez (.220) also added 2 doubles of his own and had a 2 for 4 day and is heating up at the plate, while Brian Van Kirk (.261) went 3 for 5.

With this win, the Dunedin Jays now sit 2nd in the division, a half game ahead of Tampa (NYY) and 1 game behind Clearwater (PHI).

Jays Minors Review: 21-Apr-10

Mat Germain — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:23:57 +0000

Here is a review of the major events in the minors for the Jays on Wednesday, 21st of April:

AAA Las Vegas –Postponed

AA New Hampshire – Lost 13-3 vs Trenton (NYY)

The Fishercats were shut down by one of the arms I highlighted in my On The Level post for the 6th of April in NYY prospect David Phelps – a great guy to keep an eye on in fantasy leagues. He threw 6 shutout innings against NH, allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk while getting 6 Ks.
NH did manage to get some runs in on the Trenton relievers, with Eric Thames leading the way with a 2 for 4 day and his first HR of 2010.
Randy Boone and Bubbie Buzachero allowed 12 ER between them which pretty well sums up their day.

(more…)

Jays Minors Review: 15 Apr 10

Mat Germain — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:13:32 +0000

Here is a review of the major events in the minors for the Jays on Thursday, 15th of April:

AAA Las Vegas – Lost 7-3

Lance Broadway‘s line: 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 5 walks, 4 ER, 4 strike outs, and now has a 3.48 ERA on the season.
Zach Jackson didn’t give up a run in relief, but he did give up 3 walks and 2 hits over his 2 IP.
3B Christian Colonel went 3 for 4 with a double and now has a .381 average on the year.
LF Chris Lubanski is the other other player to have a big impact offensively, as eh hit his 2nd HR of the year.

AA New Hampshire – Lost 7-6

Zach Stewart is having a hard time in AA. He only lasted 4.1 IP, gave up 9 hits, 7 ER, 4 walks and got 4 Ks. His season’s ERA now stands at 7.71 – not what the Jays had in mind when they sent him to AA to build up his repertoire and confidence.
Trystan Magnuson was strong in relief, going 1.2 IP with 4 Ks and 1 hit and no walks allowed.
Zach Dials and Daniel Farquhar followed that up with 3 shut out innings only allowing 1 walk.
3B Brad Emaus (.375) was the catalyst offensively speaking, going 3 for 3 with a SB.
CF Darin Mastroianni and LF Eric Thames both got 2 hits, one of which was a double for Darin.

HiA Dunedin – Lost 3-2

Charles Huggins was outstanding in his start, lasting 7 innings, getting 2 hits, and striking out 4. He allowed no ER but still ended up with a no-decision. He now has a 2.13 ERA on the year and should be looking at a promotion at some point in 2010.
Matt Daly blew the save, allowing 2 ER over 3 hits in the 9th inning.
Brian Van Kirk (3 for 4) and Welinton Ramirez (1 for 4) both hit a double to lead NH offensively.

LoA Lansing – Lost 6-4

Dave Sever had a mediocre day, lasting 5 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 walks and getting 2 Ks.
Nestor Molina took the loss after allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, over his inning of work.
Aaron Loup was outstanding again in relief, allowing only 1 walk over his 2 shut out innings. He now hasn’t allowed a run in 6.2 innings and has 9 Ks over this period. He’ll be headed to HiA at some point in the very near future after these performances.
Ryan Goins was 3 for 4 while Bradley Glenn hit his 2nd HR in 3 days in the losing cause.

Henderson Alvarez Lights Out For Dunedin

Mat Germain — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:42:21 +0000

RHP Henderson Alvarez will be 20 years old on the 18th of April and got an early birthday present through a stellar performance yesterday. He turned in 7 shut out innings, walking 2 and allowing 2 hits while striking out 3. Unfortunately, he did not factor in the decision because Alan Farina blew the save and allowed 2 ER to score, but the outing was still outstanding because it came against Daytona, a very strong Cubs affiliate filled with top prospects. they have guys like Josh Vitters, DJ LeMahieu, Brett Jackson, and Kyler Burke who are all excellent prospects. The fact that Henderson kept this team to 2 hits in 7 innings indicates just how potent his stuff really is. Daniel DeLucia got the win in relief after pitching 2 scoreless innings of his own, and 23 year old Matthew Daly got his second save of the season.

Every Dunedin hitter got at least 1 hit in the game. Bradley McElroy and Welinton Ramirez got 2 hits a piece, and Ramirez added 2 stolen bases to go with his. However, it was Travis d’Arnaud who led the way – again – with 3 hits of his own including a double, bringing his season’s average up to .350 – much higher than any other Dunedin hitter.

The Dunedin Jays take on Daytona once again Tuesday.

Welinton Ramirez: Jays Prospect to Watch in ’10 (10 of 10)

Mat Germain — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:08:04 +0000

(image from: farm3.static.flickr.com)

Welinton Ramirez – 22 yrs old, 6’0″ 205 lbs, from the Dominican Republic

Believe it or not, the Jays signed Ramirez all the way back in August 2003, which means that they got him signed as soon as he was legal to sign (assuming his age is correct).You won’t find his name in any Baseball America book covering the Jays, but then again only their international coverage staff knew anything about Santiago Nesi, so that tells you something about the depth of coverage they sometimes take. Add to that the fact that they dedicated one of their least experienced scouts to cover the Blue Jays top prospects in 2010 in Nathan Rode, and you can understand how he’d miss some prospects along the way with such a big task to take on. I didn’t agree with lots of the choices made this year, such as leaving Darin Mastroianni off the top 30 list for Jays prospects, and don’t see how they could miss Welinton’s season. They could have at the very least included him in the minor league depth chart!

Performances

It took quite a while for Welinton to come State side and get a full year under his belt as a pro, but he did so in 2008 with the GCL Blue Jays. His stats were as follows, with the caveat that he was 20 at the time – which is fairly old for the GCL:

GCL: 176 AB, 46 hits, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 4 HRs, 25 RBI, 4 SB, 56 Ks, .261 average, .311 OBP, .392 SLG

You can understand by looking at these stats, and by looking at his age, that the Jays were not overwhelmed by his potential. Still, they move him up to Lansing last season after he played in Auburn for their Short Season, because he did begin to show comfort at the plate and a more mature outlook at the plate. Here were his stats in Auburn and Lansing in 2009:

Auburn: 220 AB, 70 hits, 22 doubles, 2 triples, 3 HRs, 33 RBI, 11 BB, 55 Ks, 13 SB, .318 average, .353 OBP, .477 SLG

Lansing: 67 AB, 21 hits, 7 doubles, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 19 Ks, 4 SB, .313 average, .338 OBP, .468 SLG

That performance in 2009 was a huge stride for Welinton because he did it versus players that are approximately his age. He stole a good amount of bases, showed more leveling power with the number of doubles he hit, which should translate to more HRs as he adds strength. The average and OBP increases were the nicest to see, although his walk to K ratio still shows he doesn’t walk nearly enough. Still, it has to be encouraging for the Jays to see this from Welinton, and they’ll hope that the trend continues as he goes up the ladder.

The problem with Welinton is that none of his tools are exceptional. He has a keen batter’s eye, and some speed, but that can only take you so far. Or, can it? I know lots of players in MLB who are there for exactly those 2 reasons – well, those and the fact that they can play some D. I’m thinking of guys like Randy Winn, David DeJesus, or even Alex Rios. The latter is exactly the potential I see in Welinton. Someone who can go out there and hit up to 15 HRs, steal 20-30 bases, and hit for close to a .300 average. I’m pretty sure most MLB teams would take that in a heartbeat.

So, why am I alone in thinking he can make this happen? Well, for the same reason most teams wouldn’t have given Randy Ruiz or Garrett Jones a shot to prove themselves in the majors. MLB teams like to see a “natural” progression to a minor league player’s career. If they step outside the mold, there’s a chance they’ll never get a chance to play in MLB, regardless of improvements they make in the minors. How else can you explain the fact that someone like Brian Dopirak (only 26) can hit 42 doubles and 27 HRs while hitting .330 at the highest level of the minors can’t find a job in the majors? How can that be? Garrett Atkins (9 HRs while at Coors Field), Casey Kotchman (14 HRs), Troy Glaus (DL man), and Daniel Murphy can be starters at 1B with a lot less offensive talent, but Dopirak sits in the minors. That, my friends, is exactly the same reason that Welinton Ramirez will need to have an outstanding year and jump 2 levels in doing so in order to get noticed, because until then he’s just an older guy at a lower level. Welinton did win one award in 2009, it was to be part of the NYP league mid-season all stars, so hopefully he is able to build off of that.

Future

Welinton will begin the year in HiA Dunedin. He should be able to get more than 400 ABs in one season for the first time, and will hopefully tap into more power now that he’ll get steady ABs over a longer period. At 6’0″ 205 lbs, he should be able to get to at least 10 HRs per season, if not 15. More importantly, however, is the fact that he needs to start walking and to continue to drive the ball hard. If he does those 2 things, steals some bases, and maintains an average above .300, I see no reason that Welinton can’t reach AA by the end of the season. If he does as stated above, and shows that kind of promise, he needs to be pushed a little to make sure the Jays can see what he’s really made of. It seems to me that they’ve been pretty easy on him so far, although the Auburn assignment proved they see promise in him and wanted to get a better feel for his skills.

My projections for him in Dunedin are as follows:

Dunedin: 425 AB, 135 hits, 41 doubles, 4 triples, 8 HRs, 65 RBI, 27 SB, .305 average, .332 OBP, .435 SLG

He’s my 10th favorite prospect to watch on my top 10 list, and I’ll update his progress as the year progresses.

I should have #9 out within a week!