Ramos continues to grow as Giants prepare for returning veterans originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — When Heliot Ramos visited Oracle Park as a 17-year-old after the 2017 MLB Draft, he smiled and said he hoped to return in three years. Confidence has never been an issue for Ramos, but still, there has been a different look about him during this latest stint in the big leagues.
Ramos hit leadoff for the first time on Sunday, a reward for his continued production at a time when Bob Melvin doesn’t know what he’ll get from most of his hitters on a daily basis. The move paid off immediately, with Ramos hitting a solo homer and driving in two more runs with a single.
It was a lineup change that took a few days to come about, as Luis Matos’ hot start is now well in the rearview mirror. Matos has struggled in the two weeks since being named NL Player of the Weekand on Sunday, Melvin beat out two young outfielders who helped bring the Giants back to life in May.
For a few weeks, it looked like neither would return to the minors. There’s a little more uncertainty about that now, with Michael Conforto ready to return on a rehabilitation mission and Austin Slater not far behind.
Conforto intends to immediately return to a fundamental role. But Melvin hasn’t seemed in recent days eager to take any hits away from Ramos, a player he didn’t know very well before this latest outburst. Ramos was out very early in the spring, but he was one of the best players in Triple-A in April and in 23 big league games he hit .286 with a .795 OPS.
“I think this might be his best work in the big leagues and he’s very inspired,” Melvin said on Monday’s Giants Talk Podcast. “Every day he looked like he was having fun, and it’s easy to say that, especially when you’re playing well, but whether it’s defensively (where) he made some impact plays for us, on offense he made some impact plays. He’s playing every day and it seems like he’s very energized by this opportunity and he’s taking advantage of it.”
Ramos had managed just 76 hits in his call-ups over the previous two seasons, and at times it seemed like the Giants were almost going out of their way not to take a look at him. At the end of last season, it was Ramos who was optioned for a day to free up a roster spot for the return and ouster of Brandon Crawford, and this spring he was optioned to minor league camp during one of the first rounds of cuts in the 11 March, well before some other young candidates who hoped to get spots on the squad.
Ramos went to Triple-A and did what he had to do, and he said the trust transferred.
“There are no excuses, no buts or anything like that. I just have to do the job and try to do my best,” he said. “The mindset is different. I’m just being positive, staying positive all the time, having a good mindset all the time and having a plan all the time and never slipping out of it.”
To the outside world it may seem like Ramos has always had this mentality. He has been positive since that first day in 2017, but admitted that “saying and believing are two different things,” something he had to learn after struggles in the big leagues.
“It takes time and it took a while,” he said. “But I feel like I’m in a good place right now.”
Some of that mindset changed in the offseason when Ramos became a father for the first time, and he said his daughter helped him keep perspective after tough games. The physical tools have always been there for the 24-year-old, but he credits hitting coach Justin Viele and baseball operations analyst Mario Ferretti with being instrumental in helping him maintain a solid approach and make adjustments.
While Ramos still strikes out too much, he’s well above average in metrics like exit velocity and hard-hit percentage, and he’s balancing some of those hits with a solid walk rate. Ramos is also slightly above average in left field.
Ramos was called up as a central defender, but the team no longer sees him as a real option there. That should benefit Matos, who was just 3-for-24 at home. When Conforto returns, the Giants could occasionally slide Ramos to right field and put Mike Yastrzemski in center. They could also use Conforto as a designated hitter, given Jorge Soler’s continued issues.
It’s a puzzle, but Melvin will be happy to tackle it. Too often this season, he has seemed to lack logical lineup options. As Comfort rose early last week, the The Giants lost LaMonte Wade Jr. due to his hamstring injury, a blow that put even more pressure on the young outfielders trying to fill the top of the lineup. Melvin said there was “good and bad” during this prospect-led period.
“Good because you see guys and guys getting opportunities,” he said. “But we also have some (injured) guys that we acquired in the offseason because we expect them to be in the lineup. It’s a little bit of a balance. I’d like to be able to get some guys back and I think we’ll have some guys back here soon and I think that’s a good thing, but we haven’t really fallen much as far as where we are in the standings.”
Download and listen to the Giants Talk Podcast
