Ramirez displaying 'a ton more confidence'

SEATTLE -- When Yohan Ramirez made his Major League debut out of the bullpen in the eighth inning of the Mariners’ Opening Day loss in Houston on July 24, the youngster’s heart was racing so fast that manager Scott Servais had serious doubts about whether he’d get through the frame -- even though Seattle was down by six runs.

“He was going so fast in his warmup pitches, I thought he might hyperventilate,” Servais said at the time.

Fast forward to Aug. 30, and Ramirez was called to the mound at Angel Stadium in the 10th inning with a one-run lead -- his first save situation -- against the top of Los Angeles’ order.

Certainly the adrenaline was flowing again, but the Rule 5 rookie struck out Luis Rengifo and Shohei Ohtani, intentionally walked Mike Trout, and then retired All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon on a flyout.

Ramirez notched his third save in Monday's 8-4 win over the Rangers when he entered in a bases-loaded situation with a five-run lead. He got the final two outs, and Seattle won its sixth in a row.

Servais isn’t appointing the hard-throwing 25-year-old as his closer, but on a team that has lost most of its late-innings options to either injuries or trades, he’s certainly not afraid to push Ramirez into those spots when the need arises and he’s the freshest arm available.

Which happened again Saturday against the Rangers, when Ramirez was summoned for his second straight save opportunity with a three-run lead. This time, Ramirez surrendered a leadoff homer to Shin-Soo Choo. But instead of wilting, he proceeded to retire three straight left-handed pinch-hitters and put another notch on his belt.

“From where we first got him, he’s grown as much as anybody on the team,” Servais said. “We were very cautious in how we started breaking him in and giving him experience. Along the way, you see a ton more confidence. I’ve really seen a different guy here, probably the last 4-5 times out.

“He’s much more calm, taking a deep breath, sometimes he’ll walk behind the mound and compose himself.”

Servais went so far as to say Ramirez reminds him of when Edwin Díaz first was promoted from Double-A to the Majors in 2016.

“Obviously, they do it a little differently and it’s been a different track record for both those guys, but it took Eddie a while to kind of slow down and understand where he was at, and that’s kind of the position we’re in with Yohan right now,” Servais said. “We’re watching that growth happen every time he goes out there.”

Ramirez has always had an impressive fastball and intriguing offspeed weapons, but command was a huge issue as a starter in the Minors with the Astros, and that’s why he was available in the Rule 5 Draft last offseason.

But the Mariners converted him to a reliever, had him focus strictly on his fastball and slider, and the results have been impressive. His fastball is averaging 95.7 mph, per Statcast, while opposing batters are 0-for-22 with 15 strikeouts and three walks against his slider.

That pitch, per Statcast, has the third-most horizontal movement of any slider in MLB this year with an average of 17.8 inches, trailing only the 21.8 inches of Tampa Bay’s Chaz Roe and 18.4 inches of Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer.

“The thing our pitching coaches have done is really simplify things with Yohan,” Servais said. “Keep in mind, Yohan was a starting pitcher and has four pitches. We’ve simplified it and he’s just throwing fastball and slider now, because out of the bullpen, those two pitches are both way above average. So let’s just focus on that, get it in the box more frequently and it’s worked out pretty well.”

Adding a bullpen arm
The Mariners added an experienced reliever to their young bullpen on Monday by activating right-hander Casey Sadler, a 30-year-old who was claimed off waivers on Saturday after being designated for assignment by the Cubs.

Seattle still has seven rookies among its 10 relievers, but Sadler brings some veteran presence as he’s appeared in 52 MLB games over five seasons and put up a 2.14 ERA in 46 1/3 innings over 33 appearances last year with the Rays and Dodgers. He was DFA’d by the Cubs after posting a 5.79 ERA with nine strikeouts and eight walks in 9 1/3 innings over 10 outings this season.

To open a spot on the 28-man roster, utility man Sam Haggerty was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left forearm. Haggerty hit .260/.315/.400 in 13 games, but he injured his arm diving for a ball in right field in his last start on Friday. The Mariners have some depth to replace him with fellow utility man Dylan Moore now back from the IL, infielder Ty France acquired via trade from the Padres and outfielder Phillip Ervin claimed off waivers to play right field.