Giants All-Stars Heliot Ramos, Logan Webb head to Texas for Midsummer Classic
Heliot Ramos and Logan Webb are the two San Francisco Giants heading to the All-Star game in Arlington, Texas.
Webb was an obvious choice to be an All-Star before the season even began. The Giants ace was the National League Cy Young runner-up last season. Ramos, on the other hand, would have been a million-to-one longshot had you asked his teammates in March.
"I didn't even think I was going to make it because obviously I just got here," Ramos said. "Obviously I've been playing good, I know, but I don't know what's enough."
It turns out, Ramos' performance has been enough. The Giants outfielder wasn't promoted to the big leagues until May 8, more than a month into the regular season. Still, his teammates, coaches, and peers around the league deemed him worthy by voting him to the All-Star game at Globe Life Field as a reserve outfielder.
"I had a message from an old coach and I realized that I was actually going to the All-Star game and I just couldn't stop crying," he said.
Ramos' manager, Bob Melvin, is even baffled by his starting center fielder's explosion in the bigs. This is a player that was amongst the very first cuts during Spring Training back in March. He can't remember another player he's been around who has accomplished what Ramos has this season.
"Never really given much of an opportunity and when he was given an opportunity, he's taken advantage of it to a point where I don't think I've seen anything this extreme," Melvin told reporters after the rosters were revealed.
Since 2022, Ramos has been sent down from the major league club to AAA more than 10 times. He has gone on stretches where he is called up, rarely gets an at-bat, and finds himself back with the Sacramento River Cats just days later.
"It's not easy to be up and down, trying to get your at-bats, trying to stay settled. It is what it is, it's part of the business, part of the plan, that's what baseball is," he said. "I can't fight, I can't argue, I just have to do what I have to do."
His teammates inside the Giants clubhouse said they weren't surprised that he made the game. They know how hard he has worked and have had a front row seat this season.
"When you get the opportunity, you have to seize it," Webb said. "That's exactly what he's done and I think he's taken it to the next step where it's like, 'how good is this guy really gonna be?'"
Without his years of battling through the minors, Ramos knows that he wouldn't have earned the title as one of the best outfielders in baseball.
"I think what helped me more was the ups and downs, for sure," he said. "That helped me build character, builds what I am today. I'm never giving up, it don't matter what happens, I'm always going to keep pushing forward, I'm always going to try and be my best."
The MLB All-Star game is Tuesday, July 16 at 5:00 p.m. PT.
