Pirates Acquire Yohan Ramirez From Guardians; DFA Aaron Fletcher

The Pirates announced that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Yohan Ramirez from the Cleveland Guardians for cash considerations and have designated left-hander Aaron Fletcher for assignment. Ramirez has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Ramirez, 27, has made 49 appearances across three seasons in the big leagues with Cleveland and Seattle. In 58.2 innings, Ramirez has a 3.99 ERA but his FIP of 5.88 indicates there is likely some room for regression. Two big reasons for the disparity are his high walks (15.1% career walk rate) and high homerun totals (12 allowed).

There are some intriguing aspects to his game as seen by his 72 career strikeouts (27.8% strikeout rate). Additionally, opponents have only hit .180 against him in his career. Ramirez offers a mid-90s fastball and a slider.

Fletcher had bounced around between the Major League club and Triple-A Indianapolis throughout the season. In nine games with Pittsburgh, Fletcher scuffled to a 6.94 ERA/6.10 FIP in 11.2 innings of work out of the bullpen.