What began as the happiest day of Heliot Ramos’ life only got better and better — all the way up until he jogged into center field to hug Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater with the game’s final out.
A major league debut doesn’t get much better than a 2-for-3 day in a winning effort in front of your home fans.
Ramos’ first game as a Giant — a 3-2 win over Miami — is yet another feat for San Francisco’s organization that just this week began the season with the homegrown battery of Logan Webb and Joey Bart. The club’s core of the future is coming, if it hasn’t already arrived. Ramos proved Sunday he’s ready to be a part of it.
“I think a lot of people have a lot to be proud of in helping Heliot, on and off the field, to get to this point,” director of player development Kyle Haines told KNBR.com Sunday.
Ramos joined the Giants organization in 2017 as a 17-year-old when SF selected him with the 19th pick in the draft. The Puerto Rico native was shy yet confident, saying he hoped to make his big league debut in three years.
He didn’t quite achieve that ambitious goal — although the canceled 2020 season stunted every prospect’s development — but he’s grown into himself since then. He arrived at Oracle Park Sunday morning, confidently chatting with reporters in the clubhouse, dapping up Brandon Crawford and enjoying his new locker sandwiched between Joey Bart’s and Curt Casali’s.
“Bienvenidos papi,” one teammate bantered.
At 1:04 p.m., Ramos jogged up the dugout steps and hop-stepped into left field — almost floating. He raised his glove and held up a peace sign to the fans in the bleachers, gesturing to an Oracle Park crowd anxious to see something special.
“He’s done nothing but give us full confidence that he can come up and manage good at-bats and play good defense for us,” manager Gabe Kapler said pregame. “No guarantee that happens, but it felt like the right time to give him an opportunity. He earned it. Certainly a really exciting moment for the Giants organization. For his coaches, for me personally, and nobody we’re more proud of than Heliot obviously.”
Ramos was tested in the field for the first time in the top of the second inning, when Brian Anderson slapped a single that dropped in front of him. Ramos charged the flare and threw on the run to third base, his toss short-hopping and taking Luke Williams off the bag.
Before the game, Kapler was careful not to put too much pressure on Ramos. The outfielder earned this opportunity, but a major impact on Day 1 would be a bonus, not the expectation.
Given that baseline, Ramos’ debut was the jackpot.
In the bottom half of the second, Ramos enjoyed a standing ovation as he dug into the batter’s box for his first major league at-bat. He went after Trevor Rogers’ second pitch, drilling it back up the middle and off Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s glove for his first big league hit.
Ramos has been tasked with hunting pitches in the lower half of the zone, trusting his bat speed and avoiding chasing high. He stuck to the plan with his first hit, putting a charge in a low slider. A Giants official was sure to collect the ball that left Ramos’ bat at 107.4 mph.
Ramos slimmed down in the offseason. It should allow him to be swifter on the base paths — he said he wants to steal 20 bags this year — and quicker in the outfield. Moments after his first MLB hit, he scored from first on Mauricio Dubón’s double, popping up with a twirl after sliding feet-first into home.
“He’s talented enough to be a consistent right-handed bat in our lineup,” Kapler said pregame. “He’s talented enough to play every day at the major league level.
Luke Williams, also making his Giants debut, singled home Dubón but Anthony DeSclafani scuffled in his first start of the year, allowing two earned runs in 3.2 innings. San Francisco and Miami traded runs, giving SF a 3-2 lead for the next time Ramos stepped in and slapped his second hit of the day into shallow right field.
Ramos struck out in his next and final trip, but the Giants’ stable of bullpen arms — Jarlin García, Zack Littell, Tyler Rogers and Dominic Leone — stymied the Marlins.
A big league debut was expected for Ramos this year. But a promotion this early still turned heads. Even he admitted he was surprised; when he got removed early from Saturday’s River Cats game, he hesitated celebrating with teammates because he didn’t want to get his hopes up.
But River Cats manager Dave Brundage informed Ramos of the news shortly thereafter, and a dream was realized.
“It’s what we live for,” Haines said. “Our whole department exists for these situations, to try to help provide players — obviously we love seeing them in a Giants uniform.”
It’s too early in the season to consider something like calling up a top prospect an energizing move or a turning point or a panic button smash. But Ramos’ smile and style can still be infectious. How long he stays with the big league club will be determined mainly by his production, so if he keeps it up there’s plenty more where that came from.
Ramos said pregame that he’s ready for the moment and willing to play wherever to help the team win. Then he walked the talk.
“I’m in the big leagues,” Ramos said. “That’s all that matters.”