The SF Giants latest addition brings some much-needed variance to the bullpen

On Monday, the SF Giants promoted Wilkin Ramos to the major league club in a series of roster moves. The move brings a much-needed change of pace to a bullpen that is light on variety.

Ramos took Joel Peguero's spot in the bullpen. Peguero suffered a significant hamstring strain and was immediately placed on the 60-day injured list. The Giants also called up Buddy Kennedy while designating Logan Porter for assignment.

The Giants are trying to mix it up, and find someone who can be a solution down the road. The front office has to be realistic about its expectations at this point in the season. With a 23-37 record, the odds of them getting back into the playoff picture are remote.

The focus should soon quietly shift toward future seasons. When the trade deadline approaches, the Giants will be more apparent about their focus, as they will look to move any and all tradable assets.

New SF Giants reliever brings something different to the table for the bullpen

If they can find a handful of players now who can help them in future seasons, then that is a bonus. This is not to say that Wilkin Ramos will be one of those players. It is just that a good bullpen tends to offer some variety, and the Giants have almost none of that.

During the championship run, the Giants relied heavily on Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, and Javier López. All threw from a different arm angle, so it gave opposing hitters something new with each pitching change.

That is not how this current iteration of the Giants' bullpen is built. All of the Giants' relievers throw from a high, three-quarters arm slot. The arm angle ranges from 38 degrees (Sam Hentges) to 48.9 degrees (Matt Gage 48.9 degrees). Opposing hitters are seeing a similar release point, whether from the right or left side.

Plus, many of the Giants' relievers are sinker-slider arms. Now, Wilkin Ramos does not offer much variance in that regard. His pitch mix includes mid 90's sinker and an upper 70's slurve. The slurve varies in effectiveness, so he throws the sinker nearly half of the time.

Ramos throws from a low, three-quarters arm slot. That release point tends to give sinkers more movement with their pitch. This has led to ground ball rates comfortably above 50 percent throughout Ramos' minor league career.

The right-handed pitcher made his major league debut on Monday, allowing two runs across two innings. He may not offer much upside as a reliever, but he does bring an element of funk to a unit that needs more of it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow