MINNEAPOLIS — Nick Ramirez walked into the visiting clubhouse at Target Field on Tuesday afternoon with the rest of the Yankees’ relievers, sitting for several minutes with pitching coach Matt Blake to go over pregame scouting reports.
He was calm as he answered questions about Tuesday’s promotion to the big-league club from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a fresh arm to bolster a bullpen — replacing right-hander Greg Weissert — that was used heavily in Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Twins.
The left-hander had settled in after what was a hectic 16-hour stretch, with some near-catastrophic travel complications.
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Ramirez smiled as he recounted his morning. He learned he was heading to Minnesota to join the Yankees at midnight on Monday night, his first big-league opportunity since July of 2021 with the Padres.
Up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, Ramirez rode to the airport in a car service at 5:30 a.m. He was traveling out of Boston, leaving the RailRiders who had a series against Triple-A Worcester (a Red Sox affiliate) beginning on Tuesday. Then, after checking his baseball bag, his 8:10 flight with Delta was canceled.
“Panic!” Ramirez said. “I knew I was gonna get here. We had plenty of time. My main concern was my baseball back was under. So I asked them if they could pull it in. They said, ‘yeah, we put the submission in, but no guarantees.’ That really made me feel good.”
To make the situation even more chaotic, Ramirez was just in Minnesota over the weekend, playing in the RailRiders’ series against the Twins’ affiliate in St. Paul up until Sunday.
“It was a nice little roundabout,” he said with a wry smile.
Ramirez, 33, has a 4.55 ERA over 64 games in the big leagues. The former fourth-round pick pitched 13 times with the Padres in 2021, spending the 2022 season with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, posting a 2.93 ERA in 53 outings.
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That caught the Yankees’ attention. They signed Ramirez this past winter and gave the southpaw an invitation as a non-roster invitee to spring training. As much as he gave up six earned runs in 9 2/3 Grapefruit League innings — good for a 5.59 ERA — the Yankees were impressed, considering the veteran as a depth piece to promote in a time of need.
“We’ve liked him all spring,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We felt early on that there was a role there. Obviously not being on the [40-man] roster, made it a little more challenging initially for him. But I think from Jump Street for myself to our pitching group and front office, we very much felt like this guy was going to play a role for us this year.”
Ramirez has pitched to the tune of a 1.74 ERA with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with seven strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings to begin this season.
“He’s done a good job down there,” Boone added. “I feel like there’s an number of roles that he can fill. He’s built up a little bit in that he can be a guy that can give you a couple of things. There could be some some matchup situations where he could fit in as well.”
Ramirez wasn’t sure about the role he’ll have with the Yankees, but he didn’t seem to care. The lefty is eager to help this team win in any way possible, focusing on throwing strikes and getting ahead.
“I think that was one of the things I ran into in spring training when I did give up hits and runs, I was falling behind and having to come back into the strike zone rather than getting ahead and being able to go at hitters differently,” Ramirez said. “It’s just getting strike one and then being able to expand off the plate and then change speeds.”
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Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.