Acquired from the Yankees in April, Ramirez had 6 stints with the Dodgers during the season, going back and forth between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.
No Dodgers player rode the up-and-down more than Nick Ramirez during the 2024 season, and he didn’t even start the year in the organization.
The veteran left-hander was with the Yankees in spring training and optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the final week of camp. On the third day of the regular season, New York designated him for assignment and the Dodgers swooped in on April 2, acquiring Ramirez for cash.
After pitching once for Oklahoma City, Ramirez got the first call to the Dodgers on April 13. He pitched in two games in his three days on the active roster, then was optioned, beginning a pattern.
Six times Ramirez was called up to the Dodgers. Four times he was optioned back to Triple-A. Another time he was simply sent back to the minors after he was called up as the 27th man for a doubleheader on May 28 at Citi Field against the Mets, which didn’t count against the limit of five times optioned within a season.
Ramirez often had a thankless role, as six of his eight appearances came with the Dodgers trailing by at least two runs, and his other two entrances came with the team up 10 runs. In seven of his eight outings, he was there to finish out the game.
During his six stints with the Dodgers, he was active for a total of 15 days, with the longest stretch a full week in late April. In his last four appearances, Ramirez finished out a lopsided game by recording at least six outs, and was sent back to the minors the next day. That was his task, to save bullets from the other arms in the bullpen.
Ramirez was designated for assignment twice during the season, cleared waivers both times and accepted the assignment back to the minor leagues. In his intermittent duty in Oklahoma City, he had a 4.37 ERA in 28 games, with 28 strikeouts and seven walks in 35 innings. That included a run in four innings over three games in late September after getting sent down the last time.
2024 particulars
Age: 34
Stats: 8 G, 13⅓ IP, 7 BB, 5 K, 7 GF
Salary: unknown
Game of the year
The one game Ramirez wasn’t asked to finish came on April 15 against the Nationals. He entered down four runs to open the sixth inning, and retired all six batters he faced with one strikeout to keep the Dodgers in the game. The Dodgers pulled to within three runs when was Ramirez in the game, but were never able to complete the comeback.
Roster status
As someone who was sent outright to the minors twice during the season, Ramirez exercised his right to become a free agent after the season, doing so on October 31.