IP: 166.3
R: 89
H: 178 (9.6 H/9)
2B: 28
3B: 3
HR: 23 (1.2 HR/9)
BB: 58 (3.1 BB/9)
HBP: 3
K: 75 (4.0 K/9)
RA: 4.80
FIP: 5.17
XERA: 4.76
ERC: 4.52
I'll be honest, I really and truly can't shake this impression that Ramirez is going to suck-diddly-uck. Like, really really bad. Not quite Joel bad, since his 2006 campaign was one for the ages, but bad, like Mark Redman bad, the kind of bad where there's just enough good to show you why he has a Major League job, but so much bad that the good only looks good in comparison to the extraordinary suck. Like having a wasp sting you three times in the eye and then once in the leg before moving back to the face. The only hard-and-fast stipulation of temporary relief is that you're put in a moderately better state than you were in before, so by those guidelines a 5 IP/4 ER start mixed in between a bunch of 2/8's certainly counts as welcome mitigation.
I don't have any particular reason for holding this belief, mind you. Granted, his stat line is pretty weak, but there's no glaring indication that he's about to fall off the cliff, so who knows. Sometimes even the most numerically-inclined of a crowd have trouble overcoming their gut feelings. In this case, I damn sure hope the rest of you are more right than I am.