The Major League Baseball draft came and went, and Goshen’s Alex Ramos went unselected and left wondering, “What’s next?”
It didn’t take long for his hopes to be reinvigorated when the Baltimore Orioles decided to sign the right-handed pitcher to a minor-league free agent deal. “It came as quite a surprise,’’ he said. Ramos, 17, plans to travel to Baltimore on Friday to discuss specifics and get a medical exam.
The family had a celebration with friends, doubling as a graduation party. “It was amazing,’’ said Ramos, who will pass on a scholarship to Florida International University.
“We're extremely excited for him and wish him nothing but the best and success in his (pro) career,’’ said Goshen head coach Stephen Distefano.
Even with a pro deal in hand, Ramos’ future is still in question. Early in his senior season, Ramos began feeling discomfort in his right elbow. He made it to mid-April when he said the pain was too much. The Goshen coaches shut him down, and a subsequent MRI revealed a tear in his ulnar lateral ligament (UCL). He had “Tommy John” surgery – using a ligament from his left arm – on June 5.
“I was bummed,’’ said Ramos, believing his career could be over. But the procedure went well and Ramos said he’s feeling fine. The arm brace is off, he has begun rehabilitation and expects to resume throwing after six months. The common return for pitchers is usually 12-18 months.
“This is something I likely would have gotten down the line … it’s very common in pitchers,’’ Ramos said. “I would rather rehab and go through that when I’m young.’’
Ramos has a fastball that ranges from 92-95 mph, touching as high as 96, a change-up that plays nice off his fastball, a big curveball and a tight slider that’s he’s been working on this year. He only pitched 17 innings before being shut down – a captain, he was limited to only pinch-running for the rest of the season. Distefano said it wasn’t uncommon to see 10-20 pro scouts when Ramos took the mound.
His season highlight for Goshen was striking out 16 Valley Central batters in just five innings (getting four in one frame). “I was on another level,’’ Ramos recalled.
Distefano praises Ramos’ work ethic.
“He does a lot of training, a lot of strength conditioning and just puts in a lot of time outside of our practices,’’ Distefano said. “He’s really diligent in what he's working on.’’
The Orioles’ farm teams are the Delmarva Shorebirds in low-Class A; the Aberdeen IronBirds in high A; the Bowie Baysox in Double-A and Norfolk Tides in Triple-A.
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