The Pittsburgh Pirates moved a handful of relievers from last year compared to the start of this season. Chase Shugart, Kyle Nicolas, Colin Holderman, and fan favorite Dauri Moreta are all no longer part of the Pirates’ 40-man roster. However, one that was able to stick around until the start of the 2026 season is Yohan Ramirez. While many may not have seen Ramirez as a popular pick to keep on the roster, the Pirates aren’t going to regret keeping him around (and it isn’t just because he had a phenomenal 2026 debut).
On the surface, Ramirez’s 5.40 ERA, 10.3% walk rate, and 1.47 WHIP in 33.1 innings make keeping him on the roster a questionable decision. But there are plenty of peripherals to suggest that he’s a good reliever. Ramirez also struck out 29% of opponents last year while posting a solid 25.3% whiff rate. He used three pitches at least 10% of the time in 2025. Of those three, two of them, his sweeper (34.2%) and his curveball (40.2%), both induced a whiff over a third of the time.
The quality of Ramirez’s pitches was very good. All of the pitches he threw at least 5% of the time in 2025 had average or better break. He is also a hard-throwing right-hander. His four-seamer averaged out around 96-97 MPH. That was in the 83rd percentile of fastball velocity.
Along with having plus velocity, Ramirez had elite arm extension. At 7.1 feet, he was in the 94th percentile of hurlers. The perceived velocity of his four-seamer clocked in at an impressive 97.8 MPH. Between the movement, velocity, and extension, Ramirez owned a 106 FanGraphs Stuff+. He even added horizontal movement to his fastball, now coming in with about a foot of arm-side break in 2026.
Ramirez’s stuff is one reason to believe in him. However, he was generally unlucky in 2025. His batting average on balls in play was .337. Ramirez’s career opponent BABIP comes in at just .293. While the right-hander was prone to hard contact, with a 13.3% barrel rate, it shouldn’t have resulted in a BABIP over 40 points higher than his career norm. ERA estimators also hold a similar sentiment. xFIP pinned him at just 3.76, while SIERA held him in even higher regard, at 3.34.
Ramirez does need to improve his command. He only had a 91 FanGraphs Location+ last year. The only Pirates pitchers who threw 30+ innings with a lower mark were Ryan Borucki and Johan Oviedo. For what it’s worth, Ramirez looked a lot better at commanding his electric stuff in his 2026 debut. Location+ reflects this, with a 99 mark. Of course, it is only one game, and he will have to continue to show he has better control.
However, most teams can’t say their middle reliever has plus stuff as Ramirez does. He has the stuff that if he continues to control better, he’ll start seeing higher leverage situations. The Pirates may have seen a ton of turnover in their bullpen during the offseason, but by the end of 2026, they’ll be glad they kept Yohan Ramirez around.
