Bryan Ramos Could Be Future at the Hot Corner for the White Sox

Some have described Chicago White Sox No. 7 prospect, Bryan Ramos, as a raw talent. One that if he can find his stride, could be a star. With a career average of .260 and an OPS of .783, one could argue that things have already started to click for the promising third baseman. 

The 21-year-old out of Havana, Cuba, just came off a season where he slashed .271/.369/.457 in his second time up in Double-A. With the Barons, Ramos clubbed 14 home runs and drove in 48 RBI in 77 games played. Some pretty stellar numbers considering he didn’t start his season until August.

Ramos was dealing with an injury to start the season after the White Sox had invited him to spring training as a part of their 40-man roster. 

Ramos first joined the organization in July of 2018, when they signed him to a minor league contract at the ripe age of 17 years old. And, as the stats foreshadow, he could be their next occupant at the hot corner for years to come. 

In 2019, his first season with the Sox organization, Ramos played the whole season at rookie ball.

In Arizona, Ramos displayed why he should be viewed as a top prospect in their system, despite not making their MLB top-30 list until 2021. He slashed a strong slash line of .277/.353/.415 with a wRC+ of 110. 

Even with an amazing season in the complex league, Ramos still had to prove himself at the higher levels to get any recognition. However, with the world seemingly shutting down and the minor leagues not playing in 2020, his development took a back seat. 

With almost two years to prepare, Ramos was ready to get back into action in 2021.

The White Sox at the time assigned him to Low-A Kannapolis, where he had a tough start to the season as he only gathered two hits in 16 at-bats. Ramos was able to make up for the slow start by going 3-for-5 with a double in his fifth game of the season. 

Ramos remained very streaky across the 2021 campaign. At one point he had a 10-game hit streak, which was then followed by a 10-game drought. Hitting .244 is not a rough season by some standards, however to Ramos that represents a career low.

He also finished with career lows in slugging with .415 and OPS in .760 across a whole season, while smacking a respectable wRC+ of 109. 

Ramos still had a down year according to his standards, but that is the most impressive part about his game. He is so raw that even when Bryan is at his statistical worst, he still is an impactful player. Ramos three years in, two years of actually playing, had only shown the tip of the iceberg as a professional baseball player. 

In 2022, Ramos was assigned to High-A Winston-Salem to kick off the year. He would play 99 games with the Dash and produced a slash line of .275/.350/.471. He would also accrue an OPS of .821 with 19 home runs. He started to put it together, hence his rise from No. 17 to No. 9 in the pipeline. 

Ramos started to show his maturity at the age of 20 years old. His K% dropped to a career-low of 16.4%, while his wOBP was the second-highest at .368. Just like the stats show, Bryan kicked off the year red hot going 3-for-4 with a solo home run. 

His best month of the season came in his last full one with the Dash, Ramos hit .284 and clubbed five home runs with 20 RBI. Ramos was having a stellar season at the High-A level, yet the club with Project Birmingham brought up players regardless of being ready or not. Some might argue that Ramos was ready to be up in Double-A, nevertheless, it wasn’t made solely for his benefit. 

Ramos started his Double-A career with an impressive showing going 3-for-5 showing, with a home run and four RBI. Bryan had sparks with four more multiple-hit games, yet in between struggled to find more consistency. He ended his season hitting .225/.279/.375 in Birmingham and brought his season total for homers up to 22 with three at the level. 

While he didn’t perform outstandingly well, Ramos at least proved he could hold his own at the level. During Project Birmingham, Ramos’ K% only rose 1.0% displaying that his plate discipline has never been a problem. The real reason he started to struggle is because of his fly-ball rate bumping to 51.6% and him pulling the ball more than he ever has in his career. He knew what he had to work on once he got back to Double-A.

For Ramos, that was longer than he thought after being invited to spring training with the White Sox in 2023. Bryan was placed on the IL to start the season after sustaining a groin injury during the spring. He wouldn’t get a chance to prove himself at the level until May. 

Bryan had to start his season with a rehab assignment in Low-A, where he played four games and mustered a .125 BA. Ramos struggled to get his groove during his assignment, but that was not where he wanted to shine. 

He was promoted to Double-A four games into his rehab on March 30th. It took Ramos a game to adjust back to the level he ended off at in 2022. In just his second game with the Barons, Ramos smacked three singles in three at-bats. 

Ramos wanted revenge for the time that he missed. 

Throughout the year, Ramos consistently hit around .250 BA and was one of the main contributors when the Barons found success this season. His best month of the season came during his last full month of the season, when Ramos hit .306 in August with five homers, 19 RBI, and five doubles. 

The only place Ramos started to show his youth was his fielding. Ramos made 13 errors at third base, marking his second time being over double-digit errors in his career. Still, with more time spent at the position, there is every chance that Ramos can stick at the hot corner.

Now at 21 years old, Ramos sits firmly inside the top-10 of prospects in the farm system of the White Sox, but Ramos has more developing to do. With the likes of Yoan Moncada in front of him at the major league level, it seems as though they are taking their time with Bryan. 

Ramos’ ETA to the show is marked for this coming season, although don’t expect that to come until the tail end of the season as he has yet to find himself in Triple-A. The expectation would be for Ramos to start his season off with the Barons, but make his way to Charlotte very early on in the season. 

Despite the expectancy of his debut in the majors, Ramos is starting to show that he could be a long-term option for the Sox at third base. With the level of confidence that he is showing at the plate and some more security with his glove, El Bero looks to be the next piece the Sox have for the infield of the future.