Heliot Ramos’ start with the Yankees has gone about as badly as anyone could have imagined.
After arriving from the SF Giants at the trade deadline, Ramos sounded thrilled about landing with a franchise like New York. But once he put on the pinstripes, the results have been brutal. Entering Sunday’s game, he was 2-for-35, good for a .063 average, and that marks the worst batting average for a position player in his first 10 games with the Yankees since Skeeter Shelton in 1915.
That is the kind of number that instantly drags a player into ugly territory, and Ramos hasn’t helped himself with the little things either. In a recent game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he failed to hustle on a ground ball.
The shortstop bobbled the play, and if Ramos had been sprinting down the line, he likely would have beaten it out. Instead, he jogged and was thrown out.
The bad stretch has already included a wardrobe malfunction in his first game with the club and a misplayed ball in the outfield, the kind of sequence that quickly tells a new fan base what to expect. It is not exactly the best way to win over Yankees fans, who are not known for their patience.
Still, it is early. Ramos is only 26, and the Yankees have him under team control through the 2029 season, so there is time for him to reset.
But there is also a limit to how long New York will wait. The club already moved on from Camilo Doval after he struggled badly with the Yankees following last year’s trade from the Giants, so if Ramos keeps underperforming next season, the Yankees could make another quick decision.
Meanwhile, the Giants are sorting through left field options after sending Ramos away. Victor Bericoto is one of the names in the mix, and he brings a similar profile - maybe a little too similar, since he has also had some rough moments on the bases and in the outfield while showing real pop at the plate.
Turner Hill has also been called up, and he offers more of a contact approach. The Giants should get a look at him the rest of the season to see whether his Triple-A production can carry over.
If none of the internal options prove to be the answer, San Francisco may need to look outside the roster in the offseason, either through free agency or a trade. For now, though, the Giants probably feel pretty good about how the Ramos deal has started, even if everyone involved knows that can change in a hurry.
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Tony Vitello has already made clear he is not interested in soft-pedaling what has gone wrong, criticizing the teams play as the organization takes a harder look at accountability. For now, though, the Giants do not appear poised for any major shake-up, which leaves the rest of the month feeling less like a run-in and more like a proving ground for players and a test of how seriously the club wants to treat the standard it keeps talking about. [Read more 🡒]