Phillies Demote Ramos; Eickhoff Not Ready

The Phillies bullpen has been entrenched in a predictable pattern of late.   The Phillies enter extra innings, and eventually the ball goes to reliever Edubray Ramos.  This was again the case on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix as the Phillies faced the Arizona Diamondbacks.   Ramos suffered his seventh loss of the season, so the Phillies decided to make a change.

The Phillies announced Monday afternoon in advance of their 3:40 p.m. Phoenix finale that they have optioned Ramos to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  Ramos was 0-7 with a 5.59 earned run average in 35 games.  Ramos has losses in five of his last six appearances.

Taking his place on the big league roster is Ricardo Pinto.  Pinto was a temporary call-up for the Phillies on May 31, when he pitched two innings for the Phillies against the Marlins in Miami.  After allowing four earned runs, Pinto returned to Lehigh Valley.  Pinto could stay a while if the Phillies decide to keep working Mark Leiter Jr. as a starter at Triple-A.

The Phillies hoped Jerad Eickhoff would be activated to start on Wednesday night in Seattle, but he is not ready.  The Phillies announced that Leiter will start Wednesday.  With experience in the bullpen the Phillies could hang on to Leiter for the bullpen after Wednesday, which could mean a return to Triple-A for Pinto.  Leiter pitched six impressive innings for the Phillies in his first Major League start.

Pinto is 4-3 with a 4.89 earned run average at Triple-A, which includes eight starts out of 15 games total.    While those numbers are not particularly impressive, Pinto has seven consecutive scoreless outings out of Lehigh Valley's bullpen.  All seven came after Pinto departed the starting rotation after May 17.