Heliot Ramos, top SF Giants outfield prospect, says he’s ready for big league push
"I can’t wait. I feel like I’m going to do everything I can to get there and I feel like I deserve it.”
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Henry Ramos has never spent a day in the big leagues, but he’s the person responsible for fueling his brother’s major league dreams.
When Ramos began playing professional baseball in the Red Sox organization 11 years ago, he allowed his younger brother, Heliot, to start tagging along to spring training.
“My mom had to go get me one day from the United States because I wanted to stay,” Heliot, a Puerto Rico native, said Tuesday. “I didn’t want to come back home.”
Nowadays, Ramos has another place he doesn’t want to return to: The minor leagues.
“I wish I could play in the big leagues in April,” he said.
At 21 years old, Ramos knows he’s probably headed to Double-A Richmond to open the 2021 season, but once he’s there, he’ll control his own destiny. The Giants’ 2017 first round draft choice has fewer than 100 at-bats above A-ball in his minor league career, but he doesn’t think he’ll need many more before taking the field at Oracle Park.
“I’m ready,” Ramos said. “I can’t wait. I feel like I’m going to do everything I can to get there and I feel like I deserve it.”
Ramos has never lacked for confidence, announcing he planned to be in the big leagues by the 2020 season when the Giants introduced him in San Francisco after he was drafted. Such a rapid ascent to the major league roster felt like a lofty goal for the then-17-year-old, but Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi recently explained the teenager wasn’t far off from achieving his goal.
“He was probably among our top prospects as hurt (by the minor league season cancelation) because he was on a path to potentially playing in the big leagues in 2020,” Zaidi said prior to spring training.
Zaidi, manager Gabe Kapler and Giants farm director Kyle Haines have all pinpointed Ramos as one of the top prospects they’re most eager to watch this spring, in part because they believe he can help the big league club in 2021.
The Giants know Ramos has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order slugger, but they’re still unsure of what his future will look like.
Can he stick at a premium position and play center field at Oracle Park? The Giants are developing him with that goal in mind.
“I’ve seen quite a bit of Ramos in center and had a chance to watch him take balls off the bat today,” Kapler said last week. “He’s fast enough and he’s athletic enough to handle center field. I think what we want to do from a development perspective is give our players a chance to develop in that premium position, and then ultimately, at some point, if they need to move to one of the corners, they will.”
Can he cut down on the near 30% strikeout rate he’s posted in more than 1,000 minor league at-bats? Ramos has been developing his own eye and emphasizing improved plate discipline with that goal in mind.
“You know how I did in (A-ball) at Augusta with my strike zone, so when I played in the winter leagues, that helped me a lot,” Ramos explained. “They threw a lot of breaking balls and when they throw a lot of breaking balls, not all of them are going to be strikes.”
As a leader of the next generation of homegrown Giants prospects, there are plenty of lofty expectations for Ramos to live up to, not the least of which are his own. He’s the most advanced outfield prospect in a system that features another first round draft choice, Hunter Bishop, and two of the Giants’ top international prospects, Alexander Canario and Luis Matos.
Ramos still has several years to prove he’s capable of helping the Giants in the big leagues, but he also likely realizes his major league dream is not guaranteed. His older brother, Henry, remains a free agent this spring after spending parts of the last four minor league seasons with various Triple-A affiliates.
A career .275 minor league hitter, Henry even appeared in the Giants’ farm system as his most recent professional game came with the Sacramento River Cats in 2019. At the time, he was overshadowed in the outfield by another longtime minor leaguer, Mike Yastrzemski.
Heliot watched Henry claw his way toward the big leagues, only to be left waiting at the highest level of the minors. The Giants have always believed Heliot would play a key role in their outfield, and with a strong minor league season in 2021, the younger Ramos brother may soon have his chance.
“I can’t stop thinking about it, that’s my dream,” Ramos said. “That’s what I want to do.”