In need of outfield depth — and any possible power potential — the Giants recalled Heliot Ramos from Triple-A on Wednesday.
Ramos, 23, has been dominating Triple-A pitching. Although he hasn’t yet produced at the Major League level, he was ranked the Giants’ top prospect in 2018 and remained in the organization’s top-three until 2022.
San Francisco placed veteran outfielder AJ Pollock on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Pollock, SF’s deadline addition, is 0-for-6 as a Giant and left Tuesday night’s game after two innings with the injury. Given his lack of production and injury risk, it’s possible the Giants cut bait with him sooner rather than later.
The roster move, though, represents a fresh chance for Ramos. In his past 16 Triple-A games, he slashed .321/.390/.566 (.956 OPS). And that stretch of performance was tame compared to what he did in his 20 rehab assignment games for the River Cats.
In his Major League career, Ramos has batted just .152 in 18 games. But the Giants, who rank 22nd in runs and 25th in wRC+ since June 1, need all the help they can get.
That’ll be true especially on Wednesday night in Anaheim, with superstar Shohei Ohtani toeing the rubber for the Halos. The runaway American League MVP favorite has a 3.32 ERA and is striking out 11.6 hitters per nine innings. Ohtani will also hit second for LAA.
Ramos isn’t in the starting lineup against Ohtani, but could factor in later in the game off the bench. Ohtani wouldn’t be a favorable matchup for Ramos, a right-handed hitter; Ohtani is holding righties to a .178 average this season.
Ramos’ time with the Giants likely won’t be permanent. Mike Yastrzemski (hamstring strain) has been participating in baseball activities and could return as early is this weekend, and Mitch Haniger (fractured forearm) could be back by the end of August.