Pirates Relief Pitcher Filling Bullpen Role Perfectly
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has been their weakest part of their roster, but recent improvements have made them a formidable unit.
One player who is a big reason for that is right-handed pitcher Yohan Ramírez, who has been incredible for the Pirates the past two months.
Ramírez had maybe his best outing of the season in the 6-4 loss to the New York Mets, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings from the end of the fifth inning through the eighth inning to give the Pirates a chance to come back.
It's not always the most important part of every game, but the consistency Ramírez has shown recently has been huge for the Pirates.
What's Made Ramírez So Efficient?
The Pirates have gotten the best from Ramírez recently, who shook off some tough outings in April and May and has been brilliant since early June.
Ramírez has given up just one earned run over his last 21 outings and 29.2 innings pitched since June 6, good for a 0.30 ERA, a .160 batting average allowed and a 1.18 WHIP.
His last outing before this streak was a poor one, giving up a two-run home run to Isaac Paredes, as the Houston Astros mounted a comeback, erasing an 8-3 deficit in the seventh inning and winning 11-9.
Ramírez has had the best season of his career so far, with a 6-3 record in 48 outings, a 2.80 ERA over 64.1. innings pitched, 74 strikeouts to 37 walks, a .199 BAA and a 1,29 WHIP.
His walk rate is quite high, amongst the bottom 7% of all pitchers in baseball, but there's so much that Ramírez does well.
Ramírez has a unique arm angle and gets great extension, much like Pirates left-handed relief pitcher Evan Sisk, allowing him to mask his pitches and deceive hitters, generating good whiff (27.9%) and strikeout rates (26.6%).
It is almost as if, even if Ramírez doesn't know where a pitch is going, the hitter has absolutely no idea either.
What he does best is induce weak contact, with his 84.8 mph average exit velocity tied for seventh-lowest, 30.6% hard-hit rate ranked 24th-lowest and his 5.1 barrel rate 48th-lowest amongst all pitchers in 2026.
Ramírez uses two of his pitches to great success with his sweeper and sinker as his offspeed and high-velocity offering, respectively.
His +7 run value on his sweeper ranks fourth-highest for the pitch in 2026 and his +6 run value on his sinker ranks in the top 13% of his pitchers this season, per Statcast.
All of this has made Ramírez from a liability to a strength of the Pirates bullpen in 2026.
Ramírez Becoming Integral Part of Bullpen
The Pirates bolstered their bullpen at the trade deadline and Ramírez sticking around shows how they value him going forward.
Pittsburgh added the likes of Luke Weaver from the New York Mets, Camilo Doval from the New York Yankees, Kirby Yates from the Los Angeles Angels and Lake Bachar from the Miami Marlins, all four right-handed pitchers.
Ramírez is the fifth right-handed pitcher, as Carmen Mlodzinski will likely have a starting/bulk role moving forward.
He can provide outings like he did vs. the Mets, stretching out and taking on some innings to ease the workload on the rest of the Pirates bullpen.
Ramírez can also come in high-leverage spots, particularly in extra innings, and shut it down late on for a win.
His role is an important one for the Pirates, who have a great deal of high-leverage arms, but really could use someone like Ramírez, who can go longer and remain efficient.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.