"He's so strong that he can drive the ball out of any part of the ballpark."
The scouting report on #SFGiants prospect Heliot Ramos certainly checks out after watching this #SpringTraining ?.
Read more about Ramos on the #Top100Prospects list: https://t.co/R4mBnkm1Tq pic.twitter.com/N1XqlUdeVC
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 29, 2020
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Gabe Kapler likes to analyze, likes to dissect, likes to swallow information and process it and disperse it cleanly.
So when he was asked about Heliot Ramos and the power he just saw from a 20-year-old’s bat, his first words were telling.
“Yeah, wow,” the Giants manager said after the 9-6 spring victory over the Rockies at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday night.
Those are the right words following his impressive blast, off 97-mph heat from Carlos Estevez, for his first long ball on a big-league field.
Perhaps even more encouraging from Ramos is the adjustments that were made from at-bat to at-bat. He went down easily in the third inning, swinging over the top of three curveballs. An inning later he jumped on the first pitch and lined his first hit of camp, a comebacker that bounced off the mound.
And then the ball that just kept traveling.
“I think there was a tangible adjustment,” Kapler said. “Did a good job of seeing what the pitchers were gonna give to him and getting ready for it.”
The mind is one thing to be excited about, but it’s a long list. Ramos, getting his first start, played right and showed off a solid arm that kept a runner at third. He has gotten rave reviews as a teammate, too, Joey Bart calling him one of his close friends and “a hell of a player.”
“It’s a pretty solid all-around tools package, right?” Kapler said. “Big, strong kid, arm with carry, power, the ability to look over the baseball. He’s fast.”
It was only fitting Bart shared the field with Ramos for his big moment. The two hugged in the dugout following Ramos’ home run, an embrace the Giants will want to see for a long time. They will not see it through much of camp, though, despite Bart saying Ramos “deserved to be here.” He’s not because of a numbers crunch in camp, and the Giants want Ramos getting regular at-bats.
Bart referred to the talent that is percolating in the minors as the “Baby Giants.”
“We went everywhere together [last year],” Bart said of Ramos. “From spring training to the Futures Game to the Fall League, we flew everywhere together, traveled together. He’s one of my closest friends here.”
And the two are making headlines together, too.
Kapler on the hot starts of the starting pitchers, who have gone 14 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run:
“They’re showing they’re ready and they’re prepared and they’re healthy. … They’ve all come out firing.”
Kapler on Shaun Anderson, whose spring ERA is up to 37.80 after two rough outings:
“He’s falling behind a little bit. We have to talk to him about attacking the zone, filling up the zone with all of his pitches. He’s going to be just fine.”