Bernardo Ramirez spent last season pitching in the Dominican Summer League on the team that the Reds had shared with the Diamondbacks. His performance was strong as he posted a 1.28 ERA in 56.1 innings with 20 walks and 47 strikeouts. The 20-year-old was brought stateside for the 2013 season and sent to the Arizona League.
Ramirez made his debut on the 23rd of June against the Brewers by allowing 2 runs over 5 innings with 6 strikeouts. He allowed two solo home runs in the game but limited damage with just 4 total hits. He made his next start on the 30th against the Rangers and it was more of a struggle as he allowed 3 runs with 3 walks in 4 innings while also hitting a batter. With just those two starts in June he finished with a 5.00 ERA over 9 innings with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts.
The right hander returned to the mound, this time out of the bullpen on the 5th and again struggled with his control as he walked 2 batters and allowed 3 earned run in just 0.2 innings. Ramirez wouldn’t return to the mound for 10 days when he pitched against the Brewers for the second time of the year and fired 3 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. . His next game came as a start when he would again fire 3 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts. In his final appearance of July he threw 3 more shutout innings with a walk and a strikeout out of the bullpen against the Indians. He was outstanding after his initial outing and would finish up July with a 2.79 ERA over 9.2 innings with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.
On the first day of August Ramirez came out of the bullpen and allowed a run in 2 innings with a walk and 3 strikeouts. On the 6th of the month he would return to the mound as he came out of the bullpen with 2.1 shutout innings with a walk and a strikeout against the Rangers. On the 11th Ramirez returned to the rotation in the second game of a double header and allowed 4 runs in 4.1 innings with a walk and 3 strikeouts. Five days later the right hander was back out of the bullpen with 2.2 shutout innings with a walk and a strikeout. He remained in the bullpen to finish out the year with two more outings as he threw 4.2 combined innings with 3 runs allowed, no walks and with 7 strikeouts. Ramirez threw 16 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 4 walks and 15 strikeouts.
Season Stats
| W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| 1 | 0 | 4.28 | 0 | 33.2 | 35 | 4 | 10 | 27 | 1.34 | 7.0% | 18.9% | 2.7 |
Overall Thoughts
Much like yesterday with Jose Fernandez, I don’t know much beyond the numbers when it comes to Bernardo Ramirez since I haven’t talked to anyone about the Arizona League Reds yet. With all of that said, he posted solid numbers during the 2013 season as he posted a 4.28 ERA over 33.2 innings with 10 walks and 27 strikeouts. While he split his time between the bullpen and the rotation, he only pitched every 5th day with the exception of a 10 day layoff in July. His strikeout rate picked up in August and his walk rate dropped. On the season his walk rate and strikeout rates were slightly above-average.
For more player season review, you can see the entire list here.