TAMPA — Mariano Rivera has seen all the celebrated pitchers enter the Yankees’ orbit.
Some, like Ryan Bradley, were products of the hype and did not amount to much. Andrew Brackman could not harness a plus fastball.
Joba Chamberlain created his own hype with 19 sensational games in 2007. Six years later, he is a middle reliever. Phil Hughes was the chosen one from the moment Jason Giambi said Hughes reminded him of a young Roger Clemens during Hughes’ first big-league camp.
PHOTOS: YANKEES SPRING TRAINING
Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos were supposed to be Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Betances has regressed in the minor league system and Banuelos is hurt.
Michael Pineda showed up a year ago out of shape, suffered a shoulder problem that required surgery and missed the 2012 season. When he finally pitches for the Yankees in the big leagues is a guess at best.
Then there is Jose Ramirez. Rivera can’t take his eyes off him.
“It’s about time we have had a kid like this,’’ Rivera said of the 23-year-old right-hander who hasn’t been showered in hype but is well-known among scouts. “I only know what I have seen this [spring], but it looks legit.’’
Ramirez, who was optioned to Double-A Trenton yesterday, has impressed scouts during his five-year climb through the Yankees’ system as much with his stuff as the confidence he shows in his changeup.
Rivera knows about the 96-mph fastball that Ramirez keeps down in the zone. The Bugs Bunny changeup is rated a 70 on the scouting scale of 20-to-80.
“He is composed,” Rivera said. “[On Saturday,] he had a guy 3-2 and threw a changeup after a 97-mph fastball. You don’t see many kids do that.”
The Yankees view the 6-foot-3, 190-pound product of Yaguate, Dominican Republic — the same hometown as Pineda — as a starter and believe Ramirez’s slider, which is a work in progress, eventually will be an effective pitch.
“You will see him in the big leagues soon,” Rivera predicted.
It has become common to break a minor league starter into the big leagues as a reliever. But for the beginning of the season, Ramirez will start at Double-A.
In three games (two starts) this spring, Ramirez allowed four hits, fanned five and walked one in nine innings. In five minor league seasons, Ramirez is 24-26 with a 3.73 ERA in 88 games (80 starts) and has allowed 386 hits in 420 innings.