Detroit Tigers: The Most Forgettable Position Players of the Last 10 Years
By Matt Snyder
Center Field: Wilkin Ramirez
Years with Tigers: 2009
Batting line: 13 PA, .364/.385/.818
Wilkin Ramirez was ranked as the Tigers’ No. 8 prospect by Baseball America entering the 2009 season. The 23-year old had plenty of power upside — he hit 19 minor league home runs in 2008 — and many hoped he’d develop into an everyday outfielder with a big bat.
With Magglio Ordonez hitting the family medical emergency list for a short spell, Ramirez was called up for one game in May of 2009 to make his major league debut. Ramirez started one game at the designated hitter position. He went down on strikes in his first two trips to the plate in his debut, but belted a home run to left-center field in his third at bat to collect his first major league hit and home run at the same time.
Ramirez was sent back down to the minor leagues when Ordonez was re-activated but returned to the big league club down the stretch as a September call-up.
Ramirez did not make the big league club in 2010 and was eventually designated for assignment and traded to the Atlanta Braves to free up a spot on the 40-man roster when the team acquired Jhonny Peralta near the 2010 trade deadline.
Ramirez appeared in the big leagues with the Braves in 2011 and Minnesota Twins in 2013 but never developed into a big league regular (and never hit another home run). He is currently on the roster of the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League.
Next: Right Field