Braves reliever Jose Ramirez has progressed as he works his way back from right-shoulder inflammation that landed him on the disabled list April 18.
Ramirez has been rehabbing at extended spring training in Florida. He’ll throw a live batting practice tomorrow.
“He’s been doing good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He feels good, pitches really good. … (We hope to) get him back to where he was. And we should have a good chance at doing that, but until he faces hitters, we’ll just have to wait.”
Ramirez last pitched April 17, when he was hit for four runs against the Phillies in the 10th inning, leading to a 5-1 Braves loss. He cited shoulder soreness after the game, and Snitker confirmed Ramirez had been battling through an unknown injury.
In his last two appearances before going on the DL, Ramirez gave up nine runs and walked five (1-1/3 innings). He had more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven) in 6-1/3 innings.
“They shut him down, wanting to get on top of it,” Snitker said. “All reports are good, so that’s good. But until you get out there and start facing hitters, you just never know. That’s why you can plan things, but until they do it, or how they are the next day, it really doesn’t matter.”
A healthy Ramirez could be a boost to the Braves bullpen. Despite his underwhelming numbers in 2018, Ramirez was an asset to the unit a year ago.
The 28-year old posted a 3.19 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 29 walks in 62 innings a year ago. He had a 3.58 ERA across 32-2/3 frames the season prior.
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