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Ramon Ortiz
Time with Angels: 1999-2004
Stats: 59-49, 4.60 ERA, 157 G, 893 2⁄3 IP, 590 SO, 99 ERA+, 4.91 FIP, 1.376 WHIP
Baseball Reference WAR: 6.7
FanGraphs WAR: 6.9
Combined WAR: 6.8
Ramon Ortiz spent the first six seasons of his big-league career with the Angels. His first five seasons were spent primarily as a starter. During his sixth season, he was moved to a bullpen role as he came out of the pen in 20 of his 34 outings.
It took a while for his career to get going with the Angels. Through his first two seasons, Ortiz made only 27 starts. Although his earned run average was high (5.52), he still managed to eat innings for his team. While having an ERA above 5 1⁄2 , Ortiz averaged six innings a start. What a guy.
He was finally given a full-time role the following year, making the most of it. In both 2001 and 2002, Ortiz made 32 starts. In his 64 starts, he went 28-20 with a 4.06 ERA. Yet again, he ate innings and saved arms in the bullpen. Over those 64 starts, Ortiz averaged 6 2⁄3 innings a start. Nowadays, only the top pitchers in baseball can give you that average.
Ortiz made 32 starts yet again in 2003, his third straight season with 32 starts. However, his numbers took a bit of a hit, as his ERA was above five yet again. His averaging innings per start was down too, as he was throwing 5 2⁄3 innings a start.
During his final year in 2004, Ortiz appeared in a career-high 34 games, but only 14 of them were starts. He came out of the bullpen for 20 games. His ERA came down to 4.43, and he actually had one of his better seasons while in Anaheim.
That offseason, Ortiz was traded to the Reds.