Better Know A Brewer: Josh Ravin

Last week, the Milwaukee Brewers designated first baseman and catcher Blake Lalli in order to make room for the claimed Josh Ravin. Earlier in the past week, Ravin had been designated for assignment by the Cincinnati Reds only for the Brewers to claim him on waivers.

Will Ravin make a splash once Spring Training comes next season?

Josh Ravin hasn’t found a whole lot of success in the minors. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

At 25, Ravin still has yet to make his Major League debut and it may be awhile until the right-hander gets to it. Ravin made his professional debut in 2006 when he was 18 years-old and since then, has really struggled at every aspect of the minors.

In 2013, Ravin received his first taste of Triple-A baseball, but was unsuccessful in 10 games with an ERA of 6.75 in 10.2 innings pitched. The thing with Ravin however is that he has primarily pitched out of the bullpen and not as a starter, so he may be an arm the Brewers could eventually fall back on.

2013 wasn’t much of a positive for Ravin as combined between Triple-A and Double-A, he posted an ERA of 5.82, a WHIP of 1.843 and pitched in 48 games (51 innings). Ravin does seem to have a bit of an arm on him with a K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings) of 8.5, but like most young pitchers, he also has problems with walking batters, hence his BB/9 (walks per nine innings) of 6.7. In his minor league career, Ravin has been hit pretty hard, with a career WHIP of 1.625.

In his arsenal, Ravin packs away a fastball that can touch around 92-95 and a curveball that seems to be crushed more often than not. Other than that, he doesn’t feature much else, which makes sense for the transition from starting pitcher to a middle reliever. Should Ravin make the 25-man roster with the Brewers, he’ll more than likely just be another bullpen arm as his potential for a starting role seems somewhat limited.

During his eight minor league seasons, success has been far and few between for the righty with a career record of 15-46 and an ERA of 5.30 to boot. He does have a rather decent K/9 of 8.1, but struggles with letting runners on with walks (a BB/9 of 6.1) or just through flat out hits. His ceiling isn’t limited to pitch in the majors someday, but I’m not certain the Brewers might have much of a use for him.

If the Brewers make some more signings throughout the off-season, I’d expect Ravin to be DFA’d again, but that’s just the way the game works. Hopefully for Ravin he’ll have a chance to prove himself in Spring Training, but only time will tell. For now, Ravin is the latest Brewer to know.