Giants End Infamous Streak After Heliot Ramos Makes Opening Day Start

The San Francisco Giants did not have a good opening night on Wednesday, as they fell to the New York Yankees, 7-0, at Oracle Park.

For all the pomp and circumstance of an opening day game, this is not the way that president of baseball operations Buster Posey hopes his team plays the rest of the season. The game had a showcase on Netflix and Giants legend Barry Bonds participated in the pregame and postgame shows, a TV rarity.

It was fitting that Bonds was in the house for opening day. The reason? One of baseball's strangest streaks ended on Wednesday, one that started with Bonds’ final season.

Giants End Infamous Streak

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (left) and San Francisco Giants former left fielder Barry Bonds. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In 2007, Bonds made his final opening day start in left field for the Giants. He retired at the end of the season and San Francisco went out and found a replacement. The next season, Dave Roberts was the starter in left field. Yes, the future Los Angeles Dodgers manager. That was only the beginning.

Each year San Francisco had another new starter in left field on opening day. That included Fred Lewis, Mark DeRosa, Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, Andres Torres, Mike Morse, Nori Aoki, Angel Pagan, Jarrett Parker, Hunter Pence, Connor Joe, Alex Dickerson, Austin Slater, Joc Pederson, Blake Sabol and Michael Conforto.

Heliot Ramos started in left field on opening day last year. He wasn’t with the team on opening day in 2024, but he finally had his breakthrough as a player, reached the All-Star Game and earned an opening day job the following season. it marked the 19th straight year with a different starting left fielder on opening day. Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, that’s a record.

The Giants’ LF streak is over, but there’s a new one to track: CLE RF, which gets to 15 now

Most consecutive Opening Days starting a different player (no repeaters) at any particular position, since 1900:

2007-25 Giants LF: 19
1937-55 Browns/O's LF: 19
2005-21 Padres LF: 17… https://t.co/LeKrlgQqm5
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 24, 2026

On Wednesday night, Ramos started in left field for the second straight season, ending the streak. It is now tied for the longest such streak since 1900 with the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles, who had a 19-year streak at the same position from 1937-55.

The longest current streak now belongs to Cleveland, which has had a different starting right fielder for the last 15 seasons. That includes 2026, as the Guardians’ starting right fielder from a season ago isn’t on the roster.

If Ramos and the Giants have their way they won't start a new streak at that position for a while. Ramos is just two years into his Major League career and isn't a free agent until 2030. Given his production and his age, it wouldn't surprise anyone if the pair remained tied together for the foreseeable future.