Seattle Mariners Abroad: Luis Liberato & Yohan Ramirez are Champions

The Seattle Mariners probably won’t be walking away with World Series rings this season, but two players in the organization will be getting some hardware.

Yohan Ramirez and Luis Liberato were participating in the Dominican Republic’s Winter League and came out victorious. Both played for Aguilas Cibaenas which clinched its 22nd title.

How did Seattle Mariners pitcher Yohan Ramirez perform?

He didn’t pitch too well, but he got reps which is the most important thing for him.

The 25-year-old reliever threw 8.2 innings in 10 separate appearances and posted a 5.19 ERA. Ramirez gave up 12 hits and gave up five earned runs.

On top of that, he walked six batters while striking out six. A 1:1 ratio is not ideal for an MLB pitcher.

In the postseason, he threw a scoreless inning allowing just one hit and striking out one batter. We need more of those appearances from Ramirez.

The takeaways, he is still struggling with his control. During the 2020 MLB season, he posted an 8.7 BB/9. You are probably hoping I mistyped right? No, seriously, he walked 8.7 batters for every nine innings.

Luckily for the Mariners, Ramirez is still young. Coaches always say you can’t teach velocity, but you can teach control. Let’s see how he progresses in Spring Training when he works more closely with the Mariners coaching staff.

Nonetheless, Ramirez is a Winter League Champion and hopefully, that gives him some confidence moving forward.

Who is Luis Liberato and how did the Seattle Mariners outfielder perform?

The Mariners signed Luis Liberato out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur free agent way back in 2012. Liberato was 17-years-old when he signed and is now 25-years-old.

Liberato made it all the way to Triple-A in 2019 but spent most of his time in High-A and Double-A. The left-handed outfielder has not developed as quickly as scouts and coaches hoped for, and he still has a ways to go.

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Liberato holds a minor league career .248 batting average, .323. OBP, .392 slugging, hit 45 home runs, and stolen 65 bases. Based on these numbers, you should be able to tell that he doesn’t have much pop in his bat. He falls along the lines of a contact hitter who can use his legs to get on base.

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In the Dominican Republic, he played 12 regular-season games for Aguilas and batted a solid .382. He slugged .588 and posted a 1.021 OPS. His sample size was rather small, but he was able to hit two doubles, one triple, and one home run in 34 at-bats.

In the postseason, Liberato played often and totaled 13 games. Luis had 26 at-bats but struggled this go around. He posted a .154 batting average, slugged .192, and a .459 OPS. Liberato did draw four walks which helped the team.

All in all, it is good that the two young Seattle Mariners players experienced success. Not many players can say they have felt the pressure of the postseason and came out on top with a trophy. It is a great experience for both of these guys and it will be interesting to see how they do this spring.

Yohan Ramirez is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the 2021 bullpen, but Luis Liberato still has a lot to prove. I don’t think he is ready for the big leagues, but he will be fighting hard for a spot in Tacoma.