Ex-SF Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos is key to Yankees' playoff hopes after Aaron Judge injury

It's once again the time of year that we SF Giants fans have to root for all 11 playoff teams that don't play in Los Angeles to win the World Series. One of those teams happens to be the New York Yankees, the former Evil Empire, who clinched the top AL Wild Card seed with a 93-68 record. They impressively managed that win total despite their star player, Aaron Judge, only appearing in 66 games as a result of a fractured upper rib and, more recently, a moderate right calf strain.

That calf strain will sideline him for at least the Wild Card series against their rival Boston Red Sox, with his availability remaining a question mark if they are able to advance beyond that series. The Red Sox will be a tough task for the depleted Bronx Bombers, but they do have an outfielder at their disposal that every Giants fan will have plenty of familiarity with.

Heliot Ramos has a chance to be a hero in pinstripes for Yankees

That man is Heliot Ramos, whom the Giants dealt to New York in exchange for minor league lefty Henry Lalane and Jeff Kent's son, infielder Kaeden Kent, at the trade deadline. Ramos has been a disappointment under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium, carrying a .198/.309/.379 slash line through 38 games worth -0.4 WAR. That output of 93 wRC+ was carried somewhat by an 11% walk rate that outpaced his career 7.3%. His 101 wRC+ with the Giants in the first half was more valuable, as he earned 1.0 WAR in his 74 games in San Francisco. If he could even get back to that performance, let alone his All-Star form in 2024 where he put up a 120 wRC+, the Yankees would be thankful.

For a team relying on quite a few left-handed sluggers, such as Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Luis García Jr., Ramos, Paul Goldschmidt and the returning Giancarlo Stanton will be the primary righties who can slot into the middle of the lineup in Judge's absence. Luckily for the Yankees, Ramos has been far better against left-handed pitching than right-handers, so he'll help balance their lineup against tricky lefties like Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez, whom the Red Sox will probably rely on to make starts in the Wild Card series.

Ramos' proclivity to crush lefty pitching has been a trend for his entire career, and that's continued in 2026. His career OPS versus LHP is a strong .862 (138 wRC+), while only a meager .682 (93 wRC+) against same-handed pitching. That gap has only widened in 2026 - a .907 OPS (150 wRC+) against LHP compared to a .651 (81 wRC+) mark against righties. By those numbers, the Yankees might consider Ramos a platoon-only bat for the postseason, but since two-thirds of the starting pitchers they face will be lefties, Ramos will play an important role. The FanGraphs depth chart has Ramos hitting third between lefties Bellinger and García, so these will be the most critical games of Ramos' career so far when it comes to making a name for himself.

Giants fans, for their part, will remember Ramos mostly with fondness for what he was able to do with the bat for his time in orange and black. He also ended the team's infamous 19-season streak of starting a different Opening Day left fielder after Bonds' retirement, so we can never thank him enough for that. By all accounts the two prospects that San Francisco acquired in exchange for Ramos are promising, at least, and it's fun to have Jeff Kent's son in the organization too.

Even though Ramos' power will be missed, his shaky defense in left field has been upgraded upon his departure. In fact, the Giants' outfield is in a relatively good position going into next year with Jung Hoo Lee, Drew Gilbert, Jonah Cox, Turner Hill, Victor Bericoto, Bo Davidson and Casey Schmitt representing some of the options that can stand out on the grass. There's not a lot of power in that group outside of Schmitt, who will probably line up at second base more often than the outfield anyway, but the infield options have plenty of slug to compensate. The lineup looks to be more or less healthy and filled out heading into next season, so the additions that will need to be made are pretty much entirely to the pitching staff.

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