The Worst Kind Of A Great Arm

Every time that creep comes in to pitch, usually when all real pitchers on our roster have been exhausted, I know we are about to lose.

At some point, usually early in his mound appearance, we'll hear the announcers talking about how much, " the Yankees love his arm."  Then, he'll throw a 97 MPH fastball, and the announcers will prod themselves silly with how astute their most recent pronouncement was.  " This kid has a great arm," they chortle, " as ball 2 goes up on the scoreboard."

In every appearance so far, including those where we have had a substantial lead ( once ), he blows the lead, causes us to bring in a reliever in desperate need of rest or, per last night, simply blows a game in which we had a chance to win.

His name is Altagracia Ramirez, Jose for short.  He is from the Dominican, and can be 20 or 40 years old.   He likes to wear the brim of his hat in a strange way, as though that will invoke a black magic, of sorts, and help him intimidate batters.

Here is the list of problems:

1.  The magic doesn't work.

2.  His control is like that of a 9 year old trying to throw a baseball at a bullseye, while riding a ferris wheel.

3.  His fastball is straight as the arrow that guy shot at an apple on some babes head, a few year's back in make up story land.

4.  His 97 MPH heat, when over the plate, therefore, lands in the upper deck.  Even when he is facing a .220 hitting shortstop with 1 home run in 5 years.

5.  His ERA is based upon at least one earned run yielded per inning pitched, a percentage for you actuaries to calculate.

6.  His arm may be great, but not his brain or his athleticism. He cannot, or does not, hold runners on base, after he walks them.

Last night, he cost us a game that was probably beyond reach anyway, given the 3-3 tie in Yankee stadium.

 So, I would appreciate it if the "pundits" would please talk about another body part?  His arm is, " a dime a dozen," probably worse.  When a pitcher cannot throw strikes, or make the batter take a hack, other than when the count is 3-0 with the bases loaded ( home run pitch ), his arm sucks.

He sucks.

 He won't be good for 5 years and, by then, he'll pitch for the Rays and make the Yankee lineup look like the 2014 offense.