Rays Put Cesar Ramos On Paternity Leave, Jeff Beliveau Recalled

The Tampa Bay Rays have officially placed Cesar Ramos on paternity leave prior to Friday’s game, and they have recalled Jeff Beliveau in his place. This move has been anticipated for some time with Ramos expecting a child. He can be on paternity leave for up to three days, meaning he will return on Monday at the latest.

Ramos has been a good contributor to the Rays this season, posting a 4.18 ERA, 7.0 K/9, and 4.2 BB/9 over 60.1 innings for the Rays between 7 starts and 20 relief outings. Ramos’ numbers don’t jump out at you, but he is a valuable pitcher given the fact he can throw multiple innings out of the bullpen and also provide the ability to start games if needed. 3 days doesn’t seem like much, but missing Ramos for that period of time could hurt. After throwing 3.1 innings on Thursday, Ramos probably wouldn’t have been available for Friday’s game anyways. But if the Rays were to have another short start on Saturday or Sunday like Erik Bedard tossed on Thrusday, they don’t have a true long reliever in the bullpen. The likelihood of that is slim, but it is still something that could potentially bite the Rays if it were to happen.

This is Beliveau’s fourth stint with the Rays this season. He was actually just optioned back to Triple-A on Thursday to make room for Vince Belnome, but with Ramos going on the paternity list Beliveau is now exempt from the 10 day rule. He has seen time in just 2 games this year for the Rays, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings. With the Triple-A Durham Bulls he has been dominant, posting a 1.10 ERA, 12.7 K/9, and 3.9 BB/9 over 32.2 innings of work. Beliveau would be a good addition to many major league bullpens, but given the Rays great relief depth he has been unable to crack their bullpen for an extended period of time. He should make a fine replacement for Ramos over the next few days.

We will have to wait and see what impact, if any, this move will have on the Rays in their weekend series against the Detroit Tigers. One thing we do know is that this is when depth is tested, and the Rays have done a good job by having a capable reliever in Jeff Beliveau that is ready to fill-in in a pinch for Cesar Ramos.