By admin 
When Aaron Judge made his long-awaited return from the injured list last week, the New York Yankees subsequently reduced the playing time of fellow outfielder Heliot Ramos.
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This was always the plan, as the Yankees acquired Ramos at the trade deadline to be a platoon bat against left-handed pitching. The 27-year-old’s miserable start to his Bronx tenure as a starting outfielder not only cemented his bench role but also quickly made fans believe that trading for him was a huge mistake.
However, Ramos is sneakily turning things around since going to the bench, which is good, as Judge exited Wednesday’s game with right lower-leg tightness. He’s taking full advantage of the more sporadic at-bats he gets, driving the ball with authority and seeing results.
Heliot Ramos is figuring things out at the plate
It is worth mentioning that the game that got Ramos going came before Judge returned to the lineup and pushed him to the bench. On August 30 against the Boston Red Sox, the righty-swinging outfielder reached base in all four of his plate appearances and hit his first home run as a Yankee, a three-run shot that broke the game open.
HELIOT RAMOS FIRST YANKEE HOMER BLOWS IT OPEN! 5-0! pic.twitter.com/k1LQhHpoAN
– Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 30, 2026
Even then, Ramos failed to reach base in his next two games before going 1-for-2 with a single and a walk against the San Diego Padres on September 5, the last game he played before Judge was activated. But on September 8, Ramos pinch-hit for Judge in the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies and promptly hit another three-run homer to seal another Yankee victory.
Ramos has since started two games in right field to give Judge a breather: those coming on September 12 against the New York Mets and on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Twins. Far more noteworthy was the Twins game, which saw Judge get the day off entirely.
Ramos was a key component to New York’s production by going 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored; his third-inning walk allowed him to eventually score a two-out run, and he lashed an RBI double in the sixth inning that also set up a game-breaking homer by Spencer Jones shortly afterwards.
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Heliot Ramos doubles home a run! Yankees lead 4-1 pic.twitter.com/rL0xiJiTUr
– Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 16, 2026
Dating back to Ramos’ big day against Boston, he is slashing .350/.458/.700 in 24 plate appearances with a pair of homers, seven RBI and a 221 wRC+. Since Judge returned, Ramos has made only 11 plate appearances, but collected four hits (two for extra bases) and a walk with four RBI and three runs scored.
Even when Ramos was stuck in his terrible slump that lasted for most of August, most of the balls he put in play were hit very hard. 55.3% of Ramos’ batted balls had an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher despite his miserable .119 batting average from August 4 to August 29. Ramos continues to make hard contact during his recent hot streak, with a 57.1% hard-hit rate, and the expected stats are not much lower than the actual stats (.473 xwOBA against a .488 wOBA).
Of course, the sample size is very small, and Ramos hasn’t been productive in every single plate appearance. But it’s still very encouraging to see him find results and come through with timely hits. As a bench player, the Yankees may rely on him even more to come through in clutch situations down the stretch, and they’d feel more comfortable putting the bat in Ramos’ hands if he continues to hit.
*stats updated before Wednesday’s game against the Twins
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/yankees/onsi as Heliot Ramos Is Flying Under the Radar Down the Stretch for Yankees.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 3:00 AM.