Heliot Ramos will occupy the third spot in the New York Yankees’ batting order Thursday night when they face the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, a placement that continues to raise eyebrows given how little the outfielder has produced since arriving in the Bronx.
The lineup lists Trent Grisham leading off in center field, Ben Rice as the designated hitter, Ramos in left, Luis García Jr. at first, Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, George Lombard Jr. at short, Spencer Jones in right, Austin Wells behind the plate and José Caballero at third, with Gerrit Cole on the mound.
The Yankees acquired Ramos from the San Francisco Giants on August 3 in exchange for pitching prospect Henry Lalane and infielder Kaeden Kent, hoping the 26-year-old right-handed hitter would provide some stability in an injury-depleted outfield.
Aaron Judge remains on the 60-day injured list with a rib stress fracture, Cody Bellinger is sidelined by a hamstring strain, and Giancarlo Stanton is also out.
Ramos had been a serviceable, league-average bat in San Francisco this season, slashing .264/.304/.424 with nine home runs before the deal. He also owned a strong track record against left-handed pitching.
That production has vanished in pinstripes. In 13 games and 42 at-bats as a Yankee through Wednesday, Ramos is hitting .095 with a .240 on-base percentage and .167 slugging percentage.
All four of his hits have been doubles. He has yet to drive in a run. His weighted on-base average sits at a paltry .178, though his expected wOBA of .299 suggests he has made better contact than the results indicate and that some of the slump may be attributable to poor luck.
Still, the gap between the two metrics has been among the largest in the majors over that span.
Manager Aaron Boone has continued to slot Ramos in the heart of the order, citing the need for a right-handed presence and the player’s history against lefties. The Yankees have faced a heavy diet of right-handed starters since the trade, which has not helped.
Boone has publicly stood by the outfielder even as fans have grown restless, including over a failure to hustle on a potential infield hit earlier in his tenure. Ramos scored a run in Wednesday’s 5-3 win after being hit by a pitch, but one productive plate appearance does not erase the broader drought.
New York sits at 71-55, five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. Cole, who is 6-6 with a 3.22 ERA, will try to keep the Yankees’ modest winning streak alive against Kyle Bradish. For Ramos, another night in the three-hole offers a chance to start justifying the trade.
If the luck evens out and the quality of contact he has shown begins to produce hits, the Yankees could yet get the bat they thought they were acquiring.
If not, the experiment of batting a struggling newcomer third may soon face more scrutiny as the season enters its final stretch.
