Thoughts on Colorado Rockies prospect Roberto Ramos

From the Minor League Ball mailbag:

Hey John!

I just picked up Roberto Ramos in my very deep keeper league. Having a hard time finding much on him on your site though. A few game day comments referencing him, otherwise he’s not getting much love. I know the K’s are rough, but he’s carrying a 1.000+ OPS into AA now.

I know he’s got competition for future playing time with McMahon and Nevin there too, but certainly seems like a lot of upside here, and if he makes it to Coors, they may live with the K’s. Thoughts?

Chris T from Carver, Minnesota

Certainly, Chris. Let’s take a look.

Roberto Ramos was born in Hermosillo, Mexico, but played high school baseball in California. He went to College of the Canyons Junior College and was drafted in the 14th round by the Colorado Rockies in 2014.

His career was initially slowed by injuries that limited him to 55 games in 2015 and just 32 in 2016. He was healthy in ‘17 and performed reasonably well, hitting .297/.351/.444 in 478 at-bats for Lancaster in the California League. 124 strikeouts was a bit high and he had a very sharp home/road split, hitting .329/.386/.477 in his friendly home park but just .264/.314/.409 on the road.

I had him as a Grade C prospect entering 2018, listed in the “others of note” section of the Colorado Rockies Top 20 prospects for 2018 report.

Ramos returned to Lancaster to open 2018 and mashed, hitting .304/.411/.640 in 214 at-bats. The Rockies promoted him to Double-A Hartford in June and he’s continued hitting, at .259/.377/.690. Overall he’s hit .294/.404/.651 this year and has already set a career-high with 24 homers.

Listed at 6-5, 220, Ramos is a left-handed hitter and right-handed thrower born December 28, 1994. He has legitimate 60-grade power and has refined his swing enough to get the power frequently in games.

He has a reputation as a fastball hitter with some contact problems against breaking stuff. The concern pre-season was that this issue was masked by his friendly hitting environments at the lower levels of the Rockies system but so far he’s held his own after moving up to the more balanced environs of the Eastern League.

Defensively, he’s made progress cutting down errors at first base but lacks the speed and mobility to handle another position. He has to hit.

You’re right that Ramos is behind Ryan McMahon and Tyler Nevin as a prospect but I also agree that he’s an interesting speculative pick-up in relevant fantasy contexts. Right now I’d give him a Grade C+.

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