With the 20th pick in the 2010 MotownSports.com Adopt-A-Tiger Selection Extravaganza, TigersFan81371 selects
Ramon Lebron
Right-handed Starting Pitcher
Photos by HueyTaxi
Born: 1/2/89
Hometown: San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 180
Signed by the Tigers as a non-drafted free agent in September 2006.
TigsTown.com player page
MinorLeagueSplits.com page
Baseball-Reference.com page
TheBaseballCube.com page
MinorLeagueBaseball.com page
John Sickels
just ranked him as the 19th best prospect in the Tigers' system.
Lebron's player page at Tigstown.com (which isn't part of the insider content) features a scouting report that says he's "another high ceiling arm that can touch 96-97 with regularity. His curveball has plus potential and his change-up is presently average".
After a total of 18 appearances for the DSL Tigers in 2007 and 2008, Lebron made his stateside debut with the GCL Tigers in 2009. He was the GCL Tigers' Opening Day starting pitcher.
He made ten starts for the GCL Tigers, but his last two appearances of the season were in relief. He went 3-4 with a 3.73 ERA. He struck out 55 hitters in 50 2/3 innings. His season high (and I'm guessing also a career high) was eleven K's on July 10th against the GCL Blue Jays. When he wasn't striking guys out, he was more likely to retire them via the groundball than the flyout. He had a 1.46 GO/FO ratio.
On the flipside, the 1.618 WHIP wasn't very pretty. It was the worst in the GCL. Lebron's 37 walks led the GCL (and his 6.57 BB/9 was the worst in the league), hence Sickels' comment about "command issues". For those that look at stuff like FIP and BABIP, he ended up at 3.95 and .334 (each 3rd worst in the GCL). Some of this stat info came from
"Take 75 North".
There's certainly room for improvement, but the Tigers organization thought enough of him to include him on its Instructional League roster this past fall. While doing my research for the Bluhm Prospect Rankings, I read enough encouraging things about Lebron to make me decide to go with him as my AAT. Micro had a nice comment about him in a prospect related thread
elsewhere in the forum.
Quote:
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He's one of the hardest workers they have, a student of the game, and a kid with great makeup to go with an all-world arm.
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This could be a key season in his development. I'd like to see if Lebron can nail down a spot in the West Michigan Whitecaps' starting rotation this season because I'd like to see him pitch in person when the 'Caps come to Midland to take on their division rivals, the Great Lakes Loons.