Named Later: Cubs Player Profile, Neil Ramirez

Neil Ramirez@fangraphs

Neil Ramirez@bbref

Neil Andrew Ramirez (@NAndrewRam) is 6'4" and weighs 215. He throws the baseball with his right arm as part of the relief corps of the Chicago Cubs. He was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on May 25, 1989.

Neil Ramirez was a first round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2007 (44th overall) out of Kempsville High School in Kempsville, Virginia. He spent the better part of six years in the Rangers' system until he was traded to the Cubs as the player to be named later in the July 2013 trade of Matt Garza to Texas. He made his major-league debut on April 25, 2014 against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out Ryan Braun for his first career K.

His fastball has been clocked at 97 miles per hour, though it seems to have slowed a bit as he recovers from injuries. He also throws a curveball, changeup, and an infrequent slider. Early in his career, he was regarded as a possible candidate for the starting rotation. Injuries have more or less precluded that notion, and Ramirez is deployed as a middle reliever, which had long been thought to be his "floor."

Ramirez earned a silver medal with Team USA in the 2006 World Junior Championship, along with fellow Rangers' 2007 draftees Blake Beavan and Michael Main. He originally signed a letter of intent to attend Georgia Tech. His brother Bryan played for Old Dominion for two years, but went undrafted.

Here's a very good scouting report by Adam J. Morris of SB Nation site Lone Star Ball. And an even older one from Scouting the Sally. And one from Grading on the Curve. It's interesting to see that he hasn't changed much.