Angels pitcher JC Ramirez embraces the opportunity to shine for Nicaragua

Miami â€”  At 2 p.m. Saturday in Nicaragua’s capital, the city will shut down and the televisions will turn on. Native son JC Ramirez will be pitching.

The Angels right-hander’s stature has surged in recent weeks as he has transformed himself from a mediocre reliever into a tantalizing starting pitcher. Given his first chance to start in the majors and his first anywhere in six years, Ramirez has flourished, with 41 strikeouts, 11 walks, and a 3.65 earned-run average over eight starts.

Nowhere is there more attention being paid than Managua.

“In Nicaragua, when there’s a really good telenovela, everybody stops what they’re doing to watch the telenovela at 7 p.m. each day,� Ramirez said. “It’s kind of like that now. The days I’m pitching, everyone in my hometown stops to watch me pitch. Friends go to bars, families watch at home. It’s fun.�

Ramirez made 111 relief appearances before he started a game. No one much cared about him then, he said. The interest sparked after Ramirez’s fifth start, when he beat Houston at Angel Stadium.

He began to notice Nicaraguan flags in the stands and fans wearing his jersey. He has fielded far more interview requests, including from Nicaraguan media members traveling to the U.S. to report on his ascension.

“It’s kind of weird,� Ramirez said. “But I want to be at this point. I don’t want to go less than this. Now, I want to go to the top. Who doesn’t want to be like Mike Trout? Everybody wants to say hi to him, get his autograph, take a picture with him. I wouldn’t say that I’m getting used to it. It’s just consistently lately, and I’m OK with it.�

Ramirez, 28, maintains a gregarious, quirky presence in the Angels’ clubhouse. A fluent English speaker, he smiles freely, takes photos on his phone often and sports T-shirts with slogans befitting his behavior.

He particularly likes one that reads: “The right way/The wrong way/And the way I do it.�

As a starter, Ramirez’s fastball has trended up, and his slider has improved alongside his addition of a curveball. His trouble has come in the first inning, but he said slyly Friday that he has “something in mind that I can try� Saturday against Miami.

“What he’s done as a starter is more important than anything he would’ve been doing in the bullpen right now,� Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’s one of the reasons why we at least have our heads above water right now.�

Short hops

Left fielder Cameron Maybin did not start Friday because of right knee soreness, but was available to appear as a reserve. Maybin hurt his right knee running on the turf at Tropicana Field. He said he expected to play Saturday. …Right-hander Alex Meyer played catch for the first time since he went on the 10-day disabled list because of back spasms and said he felt fine. … Scioscia coached Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich at a Los Angeles youth baseball camp around 2000. He said he saw unusual skills in the-then 9-year-old Yelich.

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