Giants' Heliot Ramos Boosting Fantasy Baseball Value With May Hot Streak

The concern for fantasy baseball managers drafting a player with one strong season on their resume is determining whether that lone year of success is repeatable. Or, was it a fluke?

After April, it was looking more like the latter for San Francisco Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos. In the first 31 games of the season, Ramos only had a .248 batting average with 11 extra-base hits. The third baseman had those totals despite a BABIP not much lower than his career norm.

But entering Wednesday's action, in May, Ramos has gone on a prolonged hot streak that has ended any concern. Not only that, but the 25-year-old appears poised to return to the All-Star Game and post even better numbers than last season.

Ramos' hot streak actually dates back to the final few days of April. After facing the Texas Rangers on April 25, Ramos' 2025 season slash line sat at .222/.280/.370. Yes, it was a small sample, but his .673 OPS was roughly 120 points below last season's total.

But since then, Ramos is batting .397 with a 1.129 OPS. He's hit four doubles and five home runs with 14 RBI in his last 73 at-bats.

Ramos' hot streak will turn a month old over Memorial Day weekend. Yet, as it stands right now, over the last 30 days, which includes 0-for-5 stretch for the Giants outfielder from April 24-25, Ramos is sixth in the MLB in OPS.

MVP candidates like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are ahead of him, as is Rafael Devers and Riley Greene.

The questerion now becomes, as the MLB is approaching the start of its third month in the 2025 season, who is the real Ramos? Will he be the April version of himself at the plate or May?

A lot of analytics point to the latter.

Ramos may be benefitting from a higher than norm BABIP this season. Before 2025, his career BABIP sat at .315. This season, Ramos owns a .344 BABIP, and in May, he has a .404 BABIP.

But keep in mind, last season, which was Ramos' breakout campaign, he had a .329 BABIP. So a .344 mark in the category isn't a huge outlier. Ramos' career BABIP sits lower because of his struggles when he first debuted in the MLB in 2022 and 2023.

A few other things, though, could explain the slight increase in BABIP this season for the outfielder. According to FanGraphs, Ramos has seen a slight downtick in soft contact percentage this season, yet, he's pulling the ball less often.

In other words, Ramos is hitting the ball hard to all areas of the field, which could be helping his luck on balls in play.

This wouldn't help his BABIP, but it's very important nonetheless -- Ramos is making more contact in 2025. His contact rate has increased from 72.8% to 79.6% on pitches he swings at this season. That's helped the outfielder cut down on his strikeout rate.

Based on those analytics, Ramos is becoming a more rounded hitter. Yet, he's also still providing power. If he remains healthy, he's on pace for roughly 25 home runs and 34 doubles in 2025. Last season, Ramos had 22 homers and 23 doubles.

Ramos only played in 121 games last season because he didn't make his MLB season debut until May 8. So, he was always a candidate to have better counting stats in 2025.

The outfielder could have that and a better batting average and OPS too if he continues to keep his soft contact rate low and strikeouts down.

Ramos' hot streak in May doesn't appear to be a fluke. Managers who continued to trust him through a slightly disappointing April could reap the benefits the rest of the summer.