Bryan Ramos smashed an Aaron Civale curveball to deep left field in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
When Ramos picked up where his liner was headed, he thought, “Go, ball.” It hit off the top of the wall.
“Two more pushups,” Ramos joked after the game in St. Petersburg, Fla. “Two more pushups and that’s a homer.”
Ramos nearly had his first major-league homer but instead settled for his first big-league double. It was one of his two hits in the 4-1 victory.
Ramos entered Thursday hitting 5-for-14 (.357) with two RBIs and two runs in five games since being called up from Double-A Birmingham on Saturday. The third baseman was in the starting lineup for the fifth straight game Thursday against the Cleveland Guardians, and his double leading off the second inning gave him at least one hit in each of his starts.
“Bryan has done a really nice job,” general manager Chris Getz said Wednesday. “He’s had some real quality at-bats. He’s come up with bigger moments and come through. He doesn’t look overmatched. This is a nice opportunity to boost his development, this experience, but also I’ve enjoyed watching him, and others have as well.”
Manager Pedro Grifol said Ramos “brings a hell of a lot of energy to us.”
“He’s hungry, he’s young, athletic,” Grifol said before Thursday’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field. “He’s got tools. And most importantly, he’s performed.
“He’s a learner. He’s a sponge. Always asking questions. A really good makeup, good character. High-integrity kid. Fun to be around.”
Ramos — who entered the season rated the No. 4 prospect in the organization by MLB.com — described his short time in the majors as “something special.”
“To be here, to have them give me the opportunity — now I’m playing, I would say, pretty good, and I feel pretty good about it,” he said Thursday.
“I’ve been feeling good. But I’m not going to say comfortable because this game is way too hard and I’ve got just five games in the big leagues. I’m just going to live in the moment and keep playing the same way.”
Ramos, 22, said the double has been among his favorite moments so far. His second hit of Wednesday’s game, an opposite-field RBI single to right, also was impressive.
Andrew Benintendi led off the sixth with a double. Ramos had it in his mind to try to get him to third.
“In that AB, my approach was stay middle, or the other way to try to get the runner to third base,” he said Wednesday. “A ground ball to second or a ground ball to first, that was my plan.”
Ramos’ chopper to the right side got past diving second baseman Amed Rosario for the RBI hit.
“I just want to try to get the runner moved,” Ramos added Thursday. “I can’t think like, ‘I want to get a base hit,’ because that doesn’t work. Many of the times you think about that, you never get a base hit. You’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do for the team in that moment, and if (you get) something better, you’ll take it.”
Ramos said he’s working on the defense at the hot corner.
“I think I’ve been improving (over) the years, and I want to keep learning in that area — in all of the game — because no matter if you’ve got 10 years in the big leagues or two days, you’re never going to stop learning,” Ramos said.
He was busy Tuesday, fielded five grounders cleanly in a 5-1 loss to the Rays.
“He’s extremely athletic, he’s got good hands,” Grifol said. “He moves his feet well. There’s some things he’s got to work on. (Infield coach Eddie Rodríguez is) on top of that stuff. But he’s done pretty good so far. He’s gotten a lot of action too. I like the fact he moves around well.”
Ramos joined the Sox when Danny Mendick went on the injured list with lower back tightness. He hasn’t got too caught up in the future plan. His focus is on the day to day work.
“They haven’t told me anything, and I don’t expect anything, either,” Ramos said. “I just want to keep playing baseball the way I’m playing. They know what they’ve got to do. When they’ve got the opportunity to make a decision, they know what’s going to be the best for me.”
