CLEVELAND -- On Thursday, Heliot Ramos hit cleanup for the Giants. On Friday, they arrived at Progressive Field in Cleveland without him.
Ramos was optioned back to Triple-A after the homestand, with the Giants activating right-hander Tyler Rogers from the paternity list on Friday afternoon. After a few moves on the homestand, they are back to their Opening Day roster of 15 pitchers and an outfield heavy on left-handed bats.
"For me there's nothing that he needs to, like, go and work on. It's more just continuing to get experience," Kapler said of Ramos. "(And) really understanding that part of being a young player in this league is the way that creates some roster flexibility. I feel very strongly that over the course of time he's going to feel more and more confident coming up to the Major Leagues and making an impact, and I thought he did a great job for us. There's no mechanical queues or things that he has to go focus on right now."
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SIGN UP HERE It was not a surprise when Ramos was sent back down. The Giants started him against two lefties, and they will face all right-handed pitchers in Cleveland and New York to start this long road trip. Kapler went with his usual alignment against Zach Plesac on Friday night: Joc Pederson in left, Steven Duggar in center and Mike Yastrzemski in right.
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The Giants ride platoons as much as anybody, but Kapler said he doesn't consider Ramos a platoon player. The Giants viewed his cameo as a good way to ease him into the big leagues.
"Oftentimes the most strategic and sometimes sensitive way to break a player in is by giving him the platoon advantage in as many at-bats as possible," Kapler said. "We're definitely not married to that on our roster, but we think that it could potentially set Heliot up for success. Obviously, he's playing every day in Sacramento at the minor league level and we believe that he has a chance to be a great everyday player for us in San Francisco."
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