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Detroit Tigers’ George Lombard reflects on mother ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tigers bench coach George Lombard’s mother, Posy, was a civil rights activist alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her son shares story, Jan. 17, 2021.
Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Tigers have enhanced their pitching options by signing right-hander Erasmo Ramirez to a minor-league contract.
Ramirez, a nine-year MLB veteran, received an invitation to major-league spring training, the team announced Tuesday. The 30-year-old logged a 0.63 ERA in 14⅓ innings across six relief appearances for the New York Mets in 2020.
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He has played for the Seattle Mariners (2012-14, 2017-18), Tampa Bay Rays (2015-17), Boston Red Sox (2019) and Mets (2020). Two years ago, for the Red Sox, Erasmo pitched in one game, giving up four runs over three innings. He spent most of 2019 in Triple-A Pawtucket.
And in 2018, Ramirez managed 45⅔ innings for the Mariners. That year, he finished with a 6.50 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 12 walks in 10 games — all of which were as a starter.
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Since then, Ramirez has been relegated to bullpen roles with the Red Sox and Mets. If he cracks the big leagues with the Tigers, it’s likely he will be used in long relief to help aid the inning limits placed on starters for 2021.
Left-handers Daniel Norris and Tyler Alexander, along with Ramirez, should be considered for starting opportunities in the back end of the rotation, but they might fit best coming out of the bullpen. Either way, Norris and Alexander hold a substantial advantage over Ramirez in securing a roster spot.
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Ramirez owns a career 4.31 ERA, 1.246 WHIP, 506 strikeouts and 186 walks in 655 innings. He has earned starts in 92 of his 199 games in the majors and has only pitched 17⅓ MLB innings in the last two seasons.
This offseason, the Tigers have inked a slew of pitchers on minor-league deals: Ramirez, Ian Krol, Locke St. John, A.J. Ladwig, Henry Martinez, Zac Shepherd, Isrrael De La Cruz, Miguel Del Pozo, Robbie Ross and Andrew Moore.
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Krol, St. John, Del Pozo and Ross are left-handers.
Non-pitchers on new minor-league deals are catcher Dustin Garneau, infielder Yariel Gonzalez and first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez. The Tigers haven’t made further moves on MLB free agents after acquiring right-hander Jose Urena and outfielder Robbie Grossman.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.