ROME FOR ONE MORE
PORT ST. LUCIE — AJ Ramos arrived to the Mets at last year’s trade deadline to help address the 2018 bullpen, but in his twomonth showcase, the veteran right-hander failed to ease concerns about the team’s depth.
In 21 appearances after arriving from the Marlins for two minor leaguers, Ramos pitched to a 4.74 ERA and 1.632 WHIP, hardly the kind of numbers expected from the former All-Star closer.
“I wasn’t pitching as much,” Ramos said Monday as Mets pitchers and catchers reported to spring training. “Last year, I was pitching more sporadically than the years previously. That and just the vibe — I got traded. There’s no excuses. I should have been pitching better, but I think it was an end-of-the-season deal, and that’s just the way it went.”
As part of his adventure, Ramos had an eight-day gap between appearances last September then threw 85 combined pitches in three outings over four days. Ramos’ roughest month was September, when he was displaced from the closer’s role by Jeurys Familia’s return from surgery to remove a blood clot from his right shoulder.
Now the Mets are banking on the quartet of Ramos, Jerry Blevins, Anthony Swarzak and Familia to carry a Mets bullpen that imploded last season and helped bury the team by the All-Star break.
New manager Mickey Callaway’s plan for this season will re- move the designated “closer” title from the mix. Instead, the former Indians pitching coach wants to employ a system in which he will use his best option in a high-leverage situation, regardless of the inning.
That could mean asking Ramos to get important outs in the seventh inning one day then close the next.
“It’s not my job to define the roles,” Ramos said. “My job, when my name is called, is to go out there and do some work and put some zeroes up. However you get wins is the best way to go, and I don’t think anybody is worried about roles right now.
“I have closed and pitched in between, so that just shows I can do different things. There is no set role for me. I am just a pitcher. I pitch. I showed my versatility, so that can actually help me, too.”
Ramos will have to wait until the Subway Series for a matchup with his close friend, Giancarlo Staton, who was traded from the Marlins to the Yankees in Decem- ber. Last season, the two trashtalked each other in text messages following Ramos’ trade to the Mets. When Ramos finally faced the Marlins in September, he walked Stanton as part of a blown save in which he surrendered three runs.
Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich were all traded by the Marlins this offseason as part of a payroll-shedding plan by team CEO Derek Jeter. Ramos, who still owns a home in Miami, is disappointed in the direction his former team is headed.
“It’s tough to be a Marlin fan,” Ramos said. “I feel bad for those fans because they get attached to players and they get shipped off, but hopefully they are doing it for the better because Miami is a great city.
“I [want] that team to be good as well. It’s fun to go in there to play some dogfights in there. It’s kind of crazy what is going on over there, but hopefully it’s going to work out for them.”