Looking at....Periard and Ramlow

Here is the promised post on Mike Ramlow and Alex Periard.

Mike Ramlow is a 6'6 lefthander from Toledo,Ohio.
Mike was a " draft and follow" in the 2005 draft and signed in 2006.
Ramlow is "paired" with Alex Periard with the Power.

A brief explanation on the Tandem Starter system 1st.
Organizations use this in order for 10 guys to get consistent work in the rotation instead of just the average 5,this was more popular among teams a few years back than now,as it has fallen out of favor a bit.
The Milwaukee Brewers still use the system though.
Not many pitchers like the system,although I did not hear too many complaints from the Power pitchers about it.
The problem that most seem to have with the system,from the players side, is that the second half of the tandem has problems getting into rhythm because he is never sure when he is going to enter the game.
This is a problem because you are asking a pitcher used to starting to suddenly think as a reliever.
Quite an adjustment.

Back to Ramlow-Mike pitched 3 innings vs the Hagerstown Suns last night,
His line was 3 innings,3 runs (all earned),5 hits,striking out 3 and walking 2.
Mike threw 70 pitches,which is a high total for 3 innings of work,which is near the Brewers self-imposed limits.
That is why Ramlow only pitched the 3 innings,as the Brewers(like most teams) follow the pitch count closely.
I think pitch count can be a valuable tool,but is overused,in my opinion,as I believe that pitch count trains guys to be 5 and 6 inning pitchers-but that is another post for another day.

Mike throws a standard 3 pitch package,fastball,curve and change.
He told me during the series that he favors a "spike" curve as his curve of choice.
The Ramlow fastball hit 90 as a high yesterday.
Using his lanky 6'6 frame,he hides the ball well from the batter and he has an excellent pick off move.
In yesterday's game,he picked off Joe Napoli,but lost the out when the SS Jimmy Mojica dropped the ball on the tag from the resulting rundown.

I would like to have seen Mike use his change-up more.
On the HR that Chris Marrero hit off him,Marrero did not appear to think Mike would throw the change and guessed fastball.
The guess cost Ramlow 2 runs as Marrero hit the home run,
Ramlow appears to have lost confidence in the change and needs to have faith in the pitch to help him succeed.

It is my opinion that Mike is not throwing at 100% right now and that is due to his health.
I saw several grimaces of pain,when he attempted to throw his curve.
That is a red flag to me,even if I was scouting him without ever talking to him.

The conversion from college to pro is a difficult one for the best of pitchers,Ramlow needs to not lose confidence and focus,it appears that Mike has done that to a certain degree by not throwing the change in tight situations.
If I had the chance to advise Mike,I would emphasize throwing the change to keep hitters off balance as to not allow them to sit on the fastball.

I had a 10 minute conversation with Mike after the game,before the Power moved on.
I know more about his situation than I will write about here.
I will not write about it because I do not feel comfortable giving out the information from a personal conversation and I do not wish to cause Mike problems.

Alex Periard is a 6'1 righty from Montreal,Canada.
Alex was a 16th round pick in the 2004 draft and was signed at 17.
Periard is a quiet,laidback pitcher in the downtime,but an aggressive competitor on the mound.

Alex picked up the win last night over the Suns.
His line was 3 innings,1 run,5 hits,fanned 2 and did not walk a batter.

Periard stands out right away on the mound as he has a powerful compact delivery that does not appear to have any mechanical flaws.

Alex was consistently in the low 90's,hitting a high of 94 on a few occasions.
Periard throws the standard three pitch package and his curve looked very tight vs Hagerstown.
Alex looks to be able to throw the curve in any portion of the count for strikes and does not appear to be willing to give the hitter any advantage by waiting for the fastball.

I am anxious to see Periard's numbers at the end of the year,if he can keep this pace up,I would not surprised to see him pop up in some Brewers top 30 prospects lists over the winter..

These two guys were arguably the best guys I have met this year,along with Hickory's Jared Hughes and they both have fans in me.
Very enjoyable getting to know them and talking with them over the 2 trips to Hagerstown.
If either or both are reading this (Mike told me he is a reader here),feel free to comment and stay in touch.
The best thing about doing this is that with the exception of grading a player-I dont have to be objective.
I am not a unbiased writer,so I am very comfortable with having favorites.
That is part of having opinions.

Mike and Alex have given me an idea that we will run as a regular recurring feature here every week or so on slow days.
Similar to Random Ramblings or Forgotten Superstars,I dont have a title for it yet,but it will focus on guys that I have gotten to know while watching games.
Likely mostly former South Atlantic League players,but others could be tossed in from the Carolina League as well,we will give updated stats and news on the players.
I will take ideas for names for this feature.

Until tomorrow,when we have Pirates-Braves,maybe a special on Indians-A's and possibly my scoring on the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight.

Photo Credits
Periard and Ramlow-Ryan Heimberger