Outfielder Heliot Ramos is searching for his offensive rhythm following his trade to the New York Yankees, enduring a difficult opening stretch at the plate despite underlying metrics that suggest better fortune could be on the horizon.
The Early Struggles Following the San Francisco Giants Trade
The Yankees acquired Ramos from the San Francisco Giants ahead of the trade deadline to inject life into a scuffling lineup. Prior to the deal, Ramos put together a solid campaign out west, batting .264 with a .728 OPS across 74 games. Yet, his transition to the American League East has not gone according to plan. Through his first eight games and 25 plate appearances with New York, he managed just two hits—both doubles—while striking out 10 times and drawing three walks, per the New York Post. That slump deepened over the weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, pushing his hitless run further and driving his strikeout rate up to 33.3 percent in the early sample size, compared to 26.8 percent with San Francisco.
Pressing at the Plate and Mental Adjustment
Ramos acknowledged that the lack of immediate results has affected his approach in the batter’s box. When hard-hit balls continually find gloves instead of grass, human nature tends to take over. “Probably just trying to do too much,” Ramos told reporters at Rogers Centre. “Because I see the ones that I hit not landing. I feel like you’re going to get out—things happen, baseball happens, you’re going to get out. So whenever that happens, I’ve tried to do too much and that’s when the strikeouts happen.” He also noted his struggles against left-handed pitching, going 0-for-6 with two walks against southpaws in his initial stint—a matchup the right-handed hitter was specifically brought in to exploit.
Underlying Metrics Offer a Ray of Hope
Despite the dismal batting average, analytics department personnel and manager Aaron Boone have found encouragement in how Ramos is actually striking the baseball. According to tracking data cited by the New York Post, Ramos posted an average exit velocity of 93.8 mph across his first 15 batted balls as a Yankee, a slight uptick from his 92 mph full-season mark that sits in the 88th percentile. Of the seven balls he drove at 95 mph or harder—classified as hard-hit balls—six resulted in outs. Manager Aaron Boone dismissed the notion that the outfielder is completely lost at the plate. “He’s squaring the ball up a fair amount. He’s just got to get some to fall and get him going, get him settled a little bit more,” Boone said. “He’s having competitive at-bats. He’s had some tough matchups in there along the way as well. He doesn’t feel like a guy that’s scuffling to me.”
Roster Implications and the Road Ahead
The Yankees view Ramos as more than a short-term rental. Under contract through the 2029 season, the 26-year-old figures prominently into the team’s future outfield plans, especially with Trent Grisham heading toward free agency. General manager Brian Cashman handed Ramos an everyday role in August while the club navigates injuries to key starters like Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. To help him adjust after the trade, New York initially deployed him primarily in left field—his main position in San Francisco—though he is slated to shift to right field once Bellinger completes his minor league rehab assignment and rejoins the major league roster. Whether Ramos can translate his hard-contact metrics into tangible box-score production will determine if he solidifies his role heading into the stretch run.
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