Ramos optioned into the Giants’ minor league camp; Matos impressed originally appeared nbc sports birea
Scottsdale, Ariz. – A year ago at this time, the Giants saw enough from Heliot Ramos that they thought it is convenient to call him for his third game of the regular season and gave him an opportunity to hit left-handed batters in the big leagues. Friday’s roster moves were a reminder of how much has changed.
Ramos was optioned to minor league camp, which was not a surprise, but probably happened earlier than the 23-year-old expected. Giants Are Determined That Ramos Must Return To The Big Leagues after a disappointing 2022And his next stop will be Triple-A Sacramento, where he spent most of last season.
Manager Gabe Kapler said, “Helliot still has some work to do. I think we saw that last year.” “More important than what we’ve seen so far in spring training is what we’ve seen over the years. We need him to perform at the minor league level to earn another opportunity at the major league level.”
Ramos went 3-for-16 in seven spring games in 18 plate appearances, with a double, walk and four strikeouts. He made nine appearances in the big leagues last year and went 2 for 20, and also struggled to find his footing in Triple-A, posting a -654 OPS with 11 homers in 108 games. Kapler said Ramos will play all three outfield spots in the minors this year as he seeks to reinvent himself.
“He didn’t perform at the minor league level last year,” Kapler said when asked what had changed. “We really want to establish a culture in our organization to be promoted to the major leagues based on merit and performance.”
— Ramos wasn’t the only high-upside Giants outfield Likely to struggle last season, Luis Matos was the league MVP at Low-A in 2021, but was limited to just 92 games at High-A and hit .211 with a .619 OPS.
Matos suffered a quad strain while running early last season and never quite felt right when he returned.
“When you get hurt, it’s in your head and it’s there all the time,” Matos said through interpreter Irwin Higueros in the first camp. “It bothered me last year but now I am 100 per cent. I am very happy to be here and it is a great opportunity.”
Matos changed his diet in the offseason and committed to the weight room, reporting to camp at 200 pounds after finishing the previous season at 184. He has one of the best hit tools in the organization and is a fine defensive center fielder. If he shows more power and returns to his 2021 form, he should reclaim his status as a top 100 prospect.
The 21-year-old started in right field on Friday and hit a solo homer to left in his second at-bat. Next up, Matos smoked a ball to center but was robbed of extra bases by center fielder Cole Tucker. In the ninth he poked a single into right.
“(Hitting coach Justin Wiley) and I were talking about his batting practice today, in conjunction with the swings he took in the game,” Kapler said, and he said it was one of the better batting drills he’s seen from Lewis. was one of the “(Wiley) actually calls it almost perfect batting practice. Lewis’ last at-bat, line drive to right, he said he saw a lot of his pregame work today. He used the whole field, hit the ball Driven up center field, hit a homer to left and moved the ball to opposite field as well.”
— Matos started right as Mitch Haniger was a late scratch. Haniger felt some oblique stiffness and Kapler said he would be down for a few days. The Giants have not scheduled any tests yet.
— two-way player Ronald Guzman has one Eye-opening presence on the mound Thursday and ended our week by dropping some jaws in BP. Guzmán hit a homer past ground that cleared the long net and landed outside Scottsdale Stadium.
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— In addition to the move to Ramos, the Giants reassigned eight players to minor league camp: pitchers Trevor Hildenberger, Eric Miller and Nick Duron; infielders Armando Alvarez and Tyler Fitzgerald; catcher Ricardo Genoves; and outfielders Von Brown and Clint Coulter.
Brown is the best prospect of the group but he hasn’t been able to generate much momentum in his first major league camp. Left patellar tendonitis has sidelined him, but he said he should only miss about a week. After a breakout 2022 season, Brown had a minor procedure in his right knee. He believes that the burning sensation in the left knee may be the product of overcompensating.
