The twenty-four-year-old outfielder from Puerto Rico is, without a doubt, making some friends in the Bay Area right now, and for good reason. Ramos has been on a tear so far this season! The Giants drafted Ramos back in 2017 using a 1st round draft selection. He ended up signing for a $3,101,700 signing bonus. After offering that kind of money to the young outfielder, the Giants knew they had something special in their farm system.
Since being drafted, Ramos has gone on to play seven minor league seasons and rack up 80 home runs, 599 hits, and 307 RBIs, all while hitting .267 across Rookie ball through AAA. This is not a surprise, as Ramos is a super-talented ball player from a rather athletic family. His brothers Héctor (soccer) and Henry (baseball) are also both professional athletes.
Ramos seems to have put all that superior DNA together this season as he is mashing at the top level in baseball. Currently, Heliot is in the 98th percentile when it comes to Hard-Hit%, according to MLB Savant. This checks out as his barrel % is also sitting in the 97%. The xSLG is 96%, Average Exit Velocity is 94%, and xwOBA is 95%, combined with an above-average xBA at 83%. Ramos is on a mission to stay up in the big leagues for good and is giving the Giants very little reason to doubt his talents.
On top of all of these impressive statistics, the big thing that caught my eye here is that he is not striking out for being such a power hitter. Sitting at 45 strikeouts to 17 walks this season, Savant has Ramos at a 12 Whiff% and 12 K%. There is nothing better than a player who crushes baseballs and doesn’t strike out while trying to do so. He clearly sees the ball very well and seems comfortable facing major-league pitching. Ramos has only seen 82 plate appearances in the majors before this season. Sitting at 156 already in 2024, this stretch is not only impressive but unfluke-like.
Ramos is not a guy people talked about before the season (maybe Giants fans were, but nationally…no). Players can be great randomly at the big league level for random spurts, but something is telling me this is not completely random. I think the Giants may have found an everyday starter and potentially one of the key pieces for their club moving forward.
2024 Stats
2.7 WAR | 137 AB | 45 H | 9 HR | .329 BA | 16 R | 31 RBI | 1 SB | .404 OBP | .577 SLG | .980 OPS | 186 OPS+
Career Stats
1.8 WAR | 213 AB | 57 H | 10 HR | .268 BA | 25 R | 33 RBI | 1 SB | .340 OBP | .460 SLG | .800 OPS | 130 OPS+