Heliot

Ramos

Heliot Ramos gets the nod in right field after Judge crushed his first home run since returning from the injured list, a three-run shot off Twins lefty reliever A.J. Minter, during Monday’s series opener at Target Field. The Yankees have been extremely cautious with his workload following a three-month absence recovering from a fracture in his ribs. The 34-year-old fantasy superstar figures to return for Wednesday’s series finale.

Ramos came in to play defense for Aaron Judge in the seventh inning before he hit a clutch three-run home run to put the Yankees up 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning. The home run was his 11th of the season. He’s hit two home runs in 25 games with the Yankees since New York acquired him before the trade deadline. Ramos is hitting.243 with a .705 OPS and 41 RBI.

Ramos’ playing time against right-handers has been squeezed since Cody Bellinger returned from the injured list, but he hit third or fourth in all three games against a lefty in this weekend’s series with Boston. The former Giant has struggled with his new team, but he hit his first homer as a Yankee in a five-run fifth inning on Sunday. There was a controversial call on a ball that Ceddanne Rafaela appeared to catch, but the center fielder was ruled to have “trapped” it instead. A two-RBI hit from Paul Goldschmidt followed, before Ramos connected for a three-run homer off Ranger Suarez.

No surprises here with rookie lefty Jake Bennett toeing the rubber for the opening contest of Saturday’s twin bill at Yankee Stadium. It’ll be Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario getting a look at first and second base, respectively, with Heliot Ramos getting into the lineup in right field.

Heliot Ramos, meanwhile, is making his first start in six days against Red Sox left-hander Patrick Sandoval. With Cody Bellinger back, it looks like Jones and Ramos could be in a straight platoon for now, though Jones could maybe start over Trent Grisham against some lefties. Jones actually has a 1.079 OPS in 34 plate appearances in lefty-lefty matchups. He has a .648 OPS in 155 plate appearances against righties.

Ramos is just 6-for-53 with no homers in 16 games since joining the Yankees, so he’s losing time even with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton still absent. Things might change if he heats up, but he figures to play mostly versus southpaws for now, making him useless in mixed leagues.

This is now the second straight game with Caballero on the bench. Now that Heliot Ramos is in town and George Lombard Jr. has been called up, it seems that Caballero might be shifting back to being a bench player. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues can hold onto him for a little bit longer given his stolen base upside, but the time may have run out on his consistent fantasy value.

Ramos makes a ton of sense for the Yankees as a temporary stopgap while both Aaron Judge (rib) and Cody Bellinger (hamstring) are on the injured list, but he could wind up getting squeezed into a platoon role once they’re back. The 26-year-old corner outfielder has just nine round-trippers in 74 games this season after reaching the 20-homer plateau in each of the previous two years. He should benefit from leaving Oracle Park’s pitcher-friendly dimensions behind in favor of Yankee Stadium.

Left-hander Henry LaLane will be part of the return, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. This doesn’t seem great for Ramos. He might play regularly for now, but if things work out for the Yankees, he’ll finish the season starting primarily against lefties. It’ll be interesting to see if the team sends down Jasson Domínguez here (assuming he’s not in the trade) or maybe gives up on Amed Rosario. Ramos’s departure will leave the Giants even more punchless for now, but as a bad defensive corner outfielder probably best utilized as a DH, he didn’t seem like a long-term fit alongside Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge.

Ramos has played in just 70 games this season due to injuries and is slashing .267/.304/.436 with nine home runs, 34 RBI, and two steals. He has hit at least 20 home runs in two straight seasons but has yet to truly put together a great full season. Still, he is just 26 years old and is under team control through arbitration for three more years, so he would likely bring back a recent return if the Giants do decide to move him.