When Heliot Ramos found out about his trade to the Yankees on Monday, he started shaking. When he told his mother, Norma, about getting dealt by the Giants, who’d drafted him and been the only team he’d ever played for, she got scared, too — not understanding how the business side worked, Ramos said.
But then Ramos told her to “calm down,” he said Tuesday. “I’m gonna be with the Yankees. I’m gonna be fine.”
Ramos recalled someone telling him that the Yankees picked him, a 2024 All-Star, for a reason. The 26-year-old outfielder, who hit fourth and played left field in his first game, oozed with excitement about playing for the team he grew up watching in Puerto Rico. Ramos arrived with nine homers and a .728 OPS on his ledger for the season and will — as someone who has never appeared in a postseason game — step into a chance to contribute down the stretch of the regular season.
“I’m looking forward just to win,” Ramos said, while also saying earlier that he felt good in pinstripes. “This is an organization that, right now, is on a good run. I just want to contribute. I’m looking forward to winning and playing in October, for sure.”
Ramos’ role could look different in the weeks and months to come. The Yankees remain without Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger in the outfield, creating a daily opportunity for Ramos until reinforcements arrive. But then he could settle into a platoon for manager Aaron Boone, who said that he might experiment with Ramos in right field, too.
There’s a risk attached to Ramos. His defense, which he described Tuesday as decent, can be spotty. His numbers against right-handed pitchers (.256 batting average, .696 OPS) sit well below his numbers against lefties (.292, .835), but he said he can bring power to the lineup. He adjusted to the tough hitting conditions at Oracle Park and used it as a challenge, telling himself that if he could hit there, those results could apply at other ballparks.
He has recognized the magnitude of the situation with the Yankees, too. The franchise’s standards, Ramos said, are “super high.” But Ramos’ belief hasn’t wavered. He grew up watching Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, grew up hearing stories about Bernie Williams from his dad, grew up feeling that his profile as a player fit the model of Andrew McCutchen.
And now, over the final two months of the season and anything that follows in the playoffs, he’ll have a chance to carve out a role of his own.
“I feel like every day I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna get four hits,” Ramos said. “Obviously it’s not that because it’s not like that every day. … At the end of the day, I’m a pretty confident guy. I’m gonna bring a lot to the table, I think, just with the type of mindset that I have, with the type of game, like, that I have.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
