San Francisco Giants All-Star’s Confidence Helped Swing Momentum Opening Day

In need of a clutch hit, a San Francisco Giants' All-Star provided a big one against the Cincinnati Reds on Opening Day.

Mar 24, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos (17) connects for an RBI single against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Opening Day looked like it was going to be a tough day at the office for the San Francisco Giants, who were on the road facing the Cincinnati Reds.

That meant having to try and find success at the plate against Hunter Greene, one of the best young pitchers in the game. His immense potential shined through in 2024, earning his first All-Star nomination with a 2.75 ERA across 150.1 innings with 169 strikeouts.

Making contact off Greene at all is a challenge; it being good contact is an even tougher thing to achieve.

That is what made the fourth inning of their Opening Day matchup so important when Heliot Ramos stepped to the plate.

An All-Star himself in 2024, Ramos mashsed left-handed pitching during his rookie year. But, for how good he was hitting southpaws, he struggled when it came to producing against right-handed pitchers.

Facing off against Greene with Jung Hoo Lee on fist base was a turning point in the matchup.

With the Giants already trailing 3-0, they were in desperate need of a spark. Down 1-2 in the count, Ramos battled back, forcing it full after taking two balls.

Armed with arguably the best fastball in the National League, Greene challenged Ramos consistently, throwing the pitch seven straight times. Five of them were fouled away and all of them were clocked at 98 or 99 mph.

"In my mind I'm like, 'Damn, how am I not getting to the fastball? This is insane, he's throwing it right there, I feel on-time, my body feels good,'" Ramos said via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. "But I didn't get off my plan, obviously. I was just trying to stay compact and just put the ball in play."

Despite not catching up to the pitch as he thought capable, Ramos remained confident and stuck to the game plan. 

One of the strongest opposite field hitters in baseball, he showcased that ability on the seventh fastball, and 11th overall pitch of the at-bat, when he planted the ball in the second row of the right field seats.

That cut the deficit to 4-2 and played a big part in the Reds having to go to their bullpen to start the sixth inning, as Greene was relieved after five.

"With the way he was throwing, it just felt like we were lucky to get a hit, let alone a run off him," said manager Bob Melvin. "He was just throwing his fastball by everybody and slider just enough to get you off a 100-mph fastball. As the [Ramos] at-bat went along, you're like, these at-bats usually end up pretty good for the hitter when you're making him work like that. There's a little frustration that comes in, too, having to throw that many pitches.”

Given his struggles against right-handed pitching, Ramos had to be elated with how things turned out against Greene in that pivotal at-bat.

He is confident that things are going to improve against righties, which will cement his status as a foundational piece for the organization to build around in the future.

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