NEW YORK — Considering the way things were going for him, Yohan Ramirez couldn’t have been surprised to see Dave Roberts coming out of the Dodgers’ dugout during the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds.
Acquired in exchange for cash considerations after the New York Mets designated him for assignment last week, Ramirez was a mess in his first game for the Dodgers on Friday. He threw 13 pitches. Only one was a strike as he hit two batters and walked another.
Sunday’s inning started better. He retired the first two batters – but he hit the next two, making it four of the first eight batters he faced in a Dodgers uniform.
That’s when Roberts left the Dodgers’ dugout. But he wasn’t coming to take Ramirez out of the game. Instead, the Dodgers manager threw his arms around the 6-foot-4 Ramirez’s neck, pulled him down and spoke into his ear.
“No, that’s never happened to me,” Ramirez said through an interpreter Tuesday. “Honestly, my whole time that I’ve been in baseball, that was one of the best moments, best managers that I’ve ever had. For him to do something like that, it made me feel like he’s more of a mother or father figure.”
Ramirez said Roberts told him that “he believes in me, he believes in my talent, that I’m an elite pitcher. I just need to trust my stuff.” Ramirez said he was “very surprised” Roberts would deliver that message at that time.
“I come with a lot of baggage – getting DFA’d, I’ve been with a lot of different teams,” Ramirez said. “I came here to the Dodger organization trying to prove myself, trying to do a little too much. For him to take that load off of me and give me that peace was very relaxing and gave me a lot of confidence.”
The 29-year-old Ramirez came to the Dodgers at a low point in his career. He had already bounced through six organizations and been designated for assignment multiple times – twice by the Mets this season with a brief stop in Baltimore in between.
“It’s been really tough. Bouncing around between teams, getting DFA’d has been really tough,” Ramirez said. “But my confidence hasn’t wavered. I’ve been trying to do my job. I’ve been trying to do everything I need to do to prepare myself to be the best I can be and I feel I’ve had stretches where I’ve been really good. I know that I can trust in myself that I can be really good and I can help this team – help them down the road, help them win a World Series.
“I know how talented I can be and how much I can help the team. But also I feel like a weight has been lifted off me from that moment. After he came out to the mound, I just felt rejuvenated with a different confidence.”
Ramirez retired the next batter he faced after Roberts’ visit. The Dodgers have already cycled through 27 pitchers this season, so Ramirez’s chances of being one of those who stick around are questionable. However, the Dodgers are adept at identifying the one thing a pitcher does well and maximizing or exploiting it. In Ramirez’s case, he has held right-handed hitters to a .193 batting average over the course of his career.
“It was more mental, trying to prove myself, trying to do too much to show the organization,” he said of the difficulties in his first two outings with the Dodgers. “It was a little out of character. I was just trying to be too fine, trying to show the organization I could do the job. Now, going forward, I’ll put less stress on that and just focus on doing my job.”
OHTANI OFF
Shohei Ohtani was in the lineup for the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Citi Field. But Roberts said he would not appear in the second game either at DH or as a pinch-hitter.
Being mindful of the bruised hamstring Ohtani has been playing through, Roberts said he didn’t want Ohtani “cranking up, getting hot (for the first game) … then to cool down and get back going doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Ohtani said Monday that his hamstring was improving daily and estimated he was 90% recovered.
Ohtani suffered the injury when he was hit in the back of the left leg by a pickoff attempt during the Dodgers’ May 16 game.
RANCHO REHAB
Pitchers Bobby Miller and Evan Phillips started minor-league injury rehabilitation assignments with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday.
Out since April 10 with a sore shoulder, Miller allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in three innings while striking out four. He threw 55 pitches.
Out since May 3 with a hamstring injury, Phillips retired the side in order in his inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
Roberts said Phillips is expected to make one more rehab appearance and join the Dodgers when they return to Los Angeles on Friday.
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Miller will continue his rehab with another start this weekend.
Meanwhile, third baseman Max Muncy (oblique strain) has moved his rehab to Arizona and is not swinging a bat at this point.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP James Paxton, 5-0, 3.49 ERA) at Mets (LHP David Peterson, 2024 debut), Wednesday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM
