2012 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #20 J.C. Ramirez

Angels 7, Phillies 0
Game 105 - Late Wednesday Night, August 2nd in Anaheim
Record - 39-66, 5th place, 23 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  A seven-run third inning doomed the Phillies in this 7-0 loss to the Angels.

What It Means:  The bats have once again gone quiet for the Phils.

What Happened:  Only two of the seven runs allowed by Jake Thompson were earned due to a costly error by Cesar Hernandez.  Mike Trout, C.J. Cron and Kaleb Cowart all homered after Hernandez's miscue.  The Phillies offense had six singles.

Featured Card:  J.C. Ramirez pitched eight shutout innings against his former team, earning his 10th win of the season.  Acquired from the Mariners in 2009 in the still-painful Cliff Lee deal, Ramirez appeared in 18 games for the 2013 Phillies, all in relief, racking up a 7.50 ERA.

Transactions:  Drew Anderson spent just one day on the big league roster before being optioned back down to Double-A Reading.  Outfielder Cameron Perkins was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley while Daniel Nava was activated from the disabled list and Edubray Ramos was recalled.

2014 Chachi Transactions #3 J.C. Ramirez

There hasn't been much heat yet from the hot stove, but I have a feeling that will be changing shortly.  Before things get too active, I wanted to update the list of players who have so far joined the ranks of ex-Phillies since the beginning of October.  Some, like Carlos Ruiz, have an outside chance of coming back.

Others, like J.C. Ramirez, have already moved on to their next destination.  Ramirez appeared in 18 games with the Phillies during 2013, going 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA.  He's the first "prospect" to officially go bust from the awful Cliff Lee trade with the Mariners back in December 2009.  Looking back to the post I composed following Lee's trade, I think it's now safe to say that GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. "got completely fleeced" on the deal.

To mark his time within the organization, Ramirez received several minor league cards and one readily available Phillies card within the 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects insert set.

Moving On

Steven Lerud (10/1/13) - Elected free agency.

Raul Valdes (10/2/13) - Claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros.

Tyler Cloyd (10/2/13) - Claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Indians.

Michael Martinez (10/7/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Zach Miner (10/7/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Pete Orr (10/7/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Roger Bernadina (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

J.C. Ramirez (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.  (Signed as a minor league free agent with the Cleveland Indians, 11/1/13)

Casper Wells (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

John Lannan (10/17/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Cesar Jimenez (10/24/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Roy Halladay (10/31/13) - Elected free agency.

Carlos Ruiz (10/31/13) - Elected free agency.

Mauricio Robles (11/5/13) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and became a minor league free agent.

2012 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs Update #19 J.C. Ramirez

Phillies 2, Marlins 1
Game 157 - Tuesday Night, September 24th in Miami
Record - 72-85, Tied for 3rd Place, 21 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Zach Miner and the Phillies bullpen made a pair of first inning runs stand up in a 2-1 win over the Marlins.

What It Means:  We had the game on in the background last night, and I had the sense the Phillies were in the midst of losing yet another game to the Marlins.  I was pleasantly surprised when I actually started watching the game only to discover the Phillies were winning.

So I suppose you could say that I've now officially checked out on the season.  It's tough to get invested in these games, especially when you know going into it that it's going to be another bullpen game.

What Went Right:  Jimmy Rollins doubled with one out in the first and then came home with the game's first run after three consecutive walks.  Kevin Frandsen drove in the second run of the inning with an RBI-ground out.  Not exactly exciting stuff.

Featured Card:  Miner pitched four strong innings to start the game, and then the bullpen contributed five scoreless innings.  J.C. Ramirez pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh innings to lower his ERA to 7.84.  It was the rookie's first scoreless outing since July 5th.  With his bouncing around this season, including various stints with Reading, Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia, Ramirez somehow managed to escape the season without one single baseball card appearance.

This is one of his two cards from last year, from the IronPigs update set.

2013 Chachi #46 J.C. Ramirez

#66

Juan Carlos Ramirez

Relief Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'4"  Weight: 250

Born: August 16, 1988, Managua, Nicaragua

Home: Managua, Nicaragua

Signed: Signed as an amateur free agent, July 2, 2005

Teams: Phillies 2013

Acquired: Acquired from the Seattle Mariners with Phillippe Aumont and Tyson Gillies for Cliff Lee, December 16, 2009

Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League #192 J.C. Ramirez

Mets 8, Phillies 0

Game 76 - Sunday Afternoon, June 23rd in Philadelphia

Record - 36-40, 3rd Place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves

Colossal Post-Vacation Catch-Up, Part 2 of 9

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies were demolished by Matt Harvey and the Mets, 8-0.

What It Means:  This was our first full day of vacation, and I was grateful I didn't have to witness any of this debacle.

What Went Wrong:  The Phils managed four hits against the Mets, while Mets hitters pounded out 12 hits - nine of which went for extra bases.  Starter John Lannan was charged with six runs (four earned) in his five innings of work.

Featured Card:  Reliever J.C. Ramirez, acquired from the Mariners in the ill-advised Cliff Lee deal back in December 2009, made his Major League debut in this game.  Ramirez had struggled in Triple-A, but he was light's out in his debut, striking out the side in his sole inning of work.  His two mainstream Phillies cards (to date) appear in the 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects set and the 2011 Topps Heritage Minor League set.

2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP144 J.C. Ramirez

The 20th, and perhaps final, non-roster invitee almost slipped through The Phillies Room cracks.  With no announcement that I'm aware of, the Phils added righty J.C. Ramirez to the non-roster invitee list.  Ramirez was acquired (with Phillippe Aumont and Tyson Gillies) from the Mariners in December 2009 in exchange for Cliff Lee.  Ironically enough, all four players involved with that trade will be in camp this spring with the Phils.

Ramirez had been on the team's 40-man roster until they signed Chad Durbin.  He was designated for assignment and managed to clear waivers.  So Ramirez remained property of the team, and he was given an invitation to Spring Training to determine if he's more prospect than suspect.

Player (position) - 2012 Organization - Last Major Cardboard Appearance
1.  Steven Lerud (c) - Phillies - 2004 Bowman #160 (Pirates)

2.  Michael Martinez (inf) - Phillies - 2012 Topps #64 (Phillies)

3.  Pete Orr (inf) - Phillies - 2008 Topps Update #UH72 (Nationals)

4.  Cesar Jimenez (lhp) - Mariners - 2009 Upper Deck #857 (Mariners)

5.  Zach Miner (rhp) - Tigers - 2009 O-Pee-Chee #314 (Tigers)

6.  Humberto Quintero (c) - Royals/Marlins/Brewers - 2012 Topps #590 (Astros)

7.  Andres Blanco (inf) - Phillies - 2007 Topps #659 (Royals)

8.  Josh Fields (3b) - Dodgers - 2010 Topps #387 (Royals)

9.  Jermaine Mitchell (of) - Athletics - 2012 Bowman Platinum Prospects Autographs #JM (Athletics)

10.  Rodrigo Lopez (rhp) - Cubs - 2007 Topps #348 (Rockies)

11.  Juan Cruz (rhp) - Pirates - 2012 Topps Update #US36 (Pirates)

12.  Aaron Cook (rhp) - Red Sox - 2011 Topps #230 (Rockies)

13.  Cody Asche (3b) - Phillies - 2012 Topps Heritage Minors #115 (Phillies)

14.  Justin Friend (rhp) - Phillies - 2012 Topps Heritage Minors #153 (Phillies)

15.  Tommy Joseph (c) - Giants/Phillies - 2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP100 (Giants)

16.  Joe Mather (of) - Cubs - 2012 Topps Update #US25 (Cubs)

17.  Adam Morgan (lhp) - Phillies - 2012 Topps Heritage Minors #128 (Phillies)

18.  Kyle Simon (rhp) - Orioles/Phillies - 2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP56 (Orioles)

19.  Yuniesky Betancourt (inf) - Royals - 2012 Topps Update #US47 (Royals)

20.  J.C. Ramirez (rhp) - Phillies - 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP144 (Phillies)