2013 Indians Top 60 Prospects: #4 2B Jose Ramirez
By Tony Lastoria
March 14, 2013 ShareThis
4. Jose Ramirez – Second Baseman
Born: 09/17/1992 – Height: 5’9” – Weight: 165 – Bats: Switch – Throws: Right
History:
Ramirez was signed by the Indians as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in November of 2009. He did not play in 2010 due to injury and made his professional debut in 2011 stateside at rookie level Arizona. He finished in the Top 15 of the Arizona League in hitting in 2011 (.325) and last season he finished 1st in the organization in hitting (.354). He played in the Dominican Winter League in the offseason where he racked up 234 at bats and played in 60 games, hitting .303 with 2 HR, 30 RBI, 15 stolen bases, and .765 OPS, and also had a 31-38 walk to strikeout ratio.
Strengths:
Ramirez is yet another interesting young middle infielder for the Indians who has some considerable upside as a prospect. He shows very good, natural ability from both sides of the plate and has very good hand-eye coordination which helps him consistently put the bat on the ball. He shows good patience and discipline at the plate where he is selective and zones up to look for a good pitch to hit, lays off borderline pitches, and is not afraid to work from behind in the count. He lacks much physical strength and has below average power, but he displays good bat speed and drives the ball well for his size where he can really pound the gaps and keep defenses honest. He is a lightning rod who impacts the top of the lineup as a tablesetter and true leadoff prospect not only because of his good bat-to-ball ability, patience, and on-base skills, but with how he puts pressure on the defense every at bat. He has very good speed, is a threat to steal when he gets on base, runs the bases very hard, is a very instinctual runner, and brings a ton of energy.
For as much as Ramirez has excelled in the batter’s box in his short career, he has been equally as impressive in the field. He has become a bona fide prospect not just because of his plus hitting tool and speed, but also because of his very good skills and versatility as a defender. He along with shortstop Francisco Lindor made for quite an impressive keystone combination last year at Low-A Lake County in the second half of the season and routinely put up highlight reel plays almost every night. He shows good lateral movement to his left and right, has good hands and footwork, has quick feet, and a strong, accurate arm. The Indians believe he is more of a second baseman at the moment, but they have played him some at shortstop to give him exposure there and all over the diamond in order to add to his versatility. He shows some leadership qualities, has very good makeup, and is a very hard worker.
Ramirez was not even ranked in the Top 100 prospect listing last season, though the Indians themselves were not even sure of what they had in him going into the season. Once he was unleashed in the second half the season at Low-A Lake County he exploded onto the season and is now a priority prospect for them. The subjective evaluation of his tools and potential changed significantly from the beginning of spring training to the end of the season and his winter ball campaign where his tools now grade out as Major League average and much higher than they were a year prior. His energy and ability to impact the game on both sides of the ball is impressive, and is something that really opened the eyes to a lot of the coaches, front office personnel, and coordinators in the organization. The reckless all-out way he plays is contagious, and he is a lot like former Indians outfield prospect Jose Constanza, though has much higher upside.
Opportunities:
Ramirez spent the first half of last season in extended spring training while Robel Garcia opened the year and struggled at Lake County. Garcia was a higher priority prospect going into the season, which is why he got the opportunity at Lake County initially and why Ramirez did not, but it shows how much of an unknown Ramirez was and how he really took advantage of an opportunity. There is not a lot to his game that needs work as he is so polished both defensively and offensively, though he needs to refine his approach to be more consistent with it at the plate, continue to make strides with his pitch recognition skills, and fine tune his game defensively with his pre-pitch positioning and focus. He needs more development as a base-runner as he is still learning to get a feel for stealing bases, reading pitchers, and getting good jumps. He came on so strong and fast last season that he now has expectations he has to live up to as a high profile prospect, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure that comes with the more high profile spotlight this season. He also needs to prove he can keep up his high level performance as there is not much of a track record to go by. Since he is undersized and lacks much power, he will need to maintain his plus bat-to-ball and on-base skills in order to retain his high prospect standing.
Outlook:
If there is one player that caught the system by storm last season it was Ramirez as he has shot up the ranks and come out of nowhere to become the Indians best true second base prospect in their system. He opened up some eyes after a stellar 2011 campaign at rookie-level Arizona, but he is now taken much more seriously as a prospect after his dominant showing at Low-A Lake County last season and what he did in winter ball in the offseason. He had about as great of a season with the bat as a player can have last season, and has put himself on the map as a guy the Indians know they need to focus their resources toward. He has been a performer to date in his short career, and is a guy with an unlimited future at this point. At worst he could end up an infield version of Jose Constanza or Ezequiel Carrera and become a good depth option for the Indians down the road, but if he keeps performing like he has and continues to develop he has the potential to be much more and be an everyday Major League second baseman. He has been one of the better stories in the Indians system the last year, and it will be exciting this season to see how he builds on his 2012 campaign. He thought is that he will open the season as the regular second baseman at High-A Carolina, though after his lengthy and impressive showing in winter ball there is a lot of talk that he may completely skip Carolina and open the season at Double-A Akron.
Video IBI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8slDmQEb9Y
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). No one was able to judge Pedroia's intangibles like heart and his aggressive, hardnosed attitude. In this respect, I think Ramirez has a lot in common with Pedroia.