Robbie Ray subtly acknowledges sad reality with SF Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos

The SF Giants lost 3-0 to the Washington Nationals on Sunday even though starting pitcher Robbie Ray pitched well. He gave up three earned runs in six innings of work and acknowledged a sad reality about outfielder Heliot Ramos in his postgame remarks.

Ray spoke with reporters and was asked about a play in the top of the fifth inning with a runner on first and no outs. The batter hit a fly ball to Ramos in left field and he seemed to take a bad route or maybe misplayed the ball because of the wind which allowed the runner to score from first despite a valiant throw from Ramos' keister and a nice relay throw from shortstop Willy Adames to catcher Patrick Bailey that was dropped as he tried to quickly apply the tag. The game was scoreless at that point so it gave Washington its first run of the game.

Here is what Ray had to say about that play which was ruled as a double:

"Yeah, it's frustrating. You know, I feel like the ball kind of hung up there for a while...um...but...just gotta move on and make a better pitch to the next guy."

Robbie Ray subtly acknowledges Heliot Ramos' defensive issues

This was not Ray admonishing Ramos in any way, but when a pitcher says he felt like the ball hung up in the air for a while, that is his diplomatic way of saying that the play should have been made. Ramos struggled a lot in the outfield last season and while he has looked better for the most part in 2026, he still ranks as one of the worst left fielders in MLB based on advanced stats.

That play brought to mind one that occurred last year in Chicago against the Cubs during a similarly windy day game. Ray was on the mound and in the fourth inning a routine fly ball was hit to Ramos but he totally misplayed it because of the wind and a run went on to score. The Giants ended up winning that game, but Ray has been burned by Ramos before.

That's just part of what you get with Ramos. He gets hot at the plate like he did in Washington DC over the weekend, but he also makes defensive mistakes. He still has a strong arm and can throw guys out at the plate but he still just needs to clean up some of those more routine plays.

Had he taken a better route and judged the wind better on that ball on Sunday, then maybe that run doesn't score and the game turns out differently. It's tough to say for sure, but Ray made it clear in a subtle way that he felt the ball should've been caught.

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