Twins right-hander Erasmo Ramirez has tears in his teres minor and lat muscles, team trainer Nick Paparesta told reporters (including La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). It appears as though Ramirez is facing a long absence, as Paparesta said it will be multiple weeks before the veteran pitcher is even re-examined for a status check.
Ramirez has been a member of the Twins organization for less than a month, after he signed a minor league contract with the club back on February 15. Ramirez threw in just one Spring Training game, and that now looks like it’ll be his only game action for quite some time, dealing a severe blow to the righty entering what would be his 14th Major League season.
It isn’t known if surgery might be a consideration, or if such steps won’t be known until after Ramirez is re-examined. Ramirez has been relatively durable during his long career, though he missed over four months of the 2018 season dealing with a couple of shoulder-related problems.
Ramirez has pitched for six different teams over his career, working as a starter, swingman, and now as a multi-inning reliever. The majority of Ramirez’s career has been spent with the Mariners and Rays, as two separate stints with each of those two teams have accounted for 691 2/3 of his 849 career innings. Ramirez is coming off his second stint in Tampa Bay, and he posted a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 innings for the Rays at the big league level last season.