No fear: Bryan Ramos commands language, first big-league experience
Bryan Ramos of the White Sox is seen with a patch on his sleeve signifying his MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on May 4, 2024, in St. Louis.
Joe Puetz/Getty
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — White Sox third baseman Bryan Ramos is only 22, born and raised in Havana, Cuba, until he moved to the Dominican Republic at 14. So give him credit.
To learn English as a second language is no small feat. But Ramos, the Sox’ No. 4 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline), was intentional about it early on in his professional career, and there he was on his first day in a big-league clubhouse Friday in St. Louis, speaking English with teammates and handling interviews without translator Billy Russo’s help.
It doesn’t mean as much as his ability to hit and field, but it allows Ramos’ bright personality to beam brighter than it otherwise would. Cubans Luis Robert Jr., Yoan Moncada and former White Sox Jose Abreu speak English to varying comfort levels, but none of them do interviews in English.
It takes confidence, and Ramos is showing how it’s done.
“Since I came to the U.S., I wanted to be able to communicate with my teammates and coaches, with everybody,” Ramos told the Sun-Times before making his second major-league start in Monday’s 8-2 loss to the Rays. “I wanted to have conversations where I understand everybody and everybody understands me.”
Signed as an international free agent in 2018 as a 16-year-old, Ramos took English classes with Erin Santana and Grant Flick, managers in the Sox’ player development and international operations departments, at Camelback Ranch in 2019.
‘‘And I learned from listening to music, old TV shows, Netflix, YouTube,’’ Ramos said. “That’s how I learned. I don’t want to be scared to speak. It’s my second language. I did my best to learn it, and I know I can speak it well. Since the beginning, I said, ‘This is what I’m going to do, and at some point I’m going to get the right words.’ ’’
Ramos knows being bilingual will connect with fans.
“I can talk to the fans, I can say what I want to them and they can know how I feel,” he said. “They can know who I am. If I want to tell them a story, I can.”
As for what he can do on the field, the Sox are about to find out. It’s possible he goes back to the minor leagues when infielder Danny Mendick comes off the injured list in about a week. It’s also possible he stays longer if he tears it up.
In any case, his comfort level and makeup won’t hurt him. In his first start in the Sox’ 5-1 victory Sunday against the Cardinals, he had a sacrifice fly his first time up, added a single and scored a run.
In the second inning against the Rays on Monday, Ramos lined a single to right center, ran hard out of the box and took an aggressive turn at first base, poised to advance on the slightest bobble. He finished the game 1-for-4.
“You saw him [Sunday],” infielders and third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez said Monday. “He wasn’t really fazed. For him it was just a baseball game. He was part of it. So it was nice to see.”
A slow start at Double-A Birmingham didn’t rattle him, he said, and he came to the Sox having bounced back, hitting safely in his last eight games, going 11-for-33 with five doubles, two homers, seven RBI and seven runs scored. He needed that to raise his average to .182.
In 391 games over four minor-league seasons, Ramos owns a .255/.342/.428 hitting line with 56 home runs.
“I started the year kind of slow, but this game is hard and you have to show up every day,” Ramos said. “I know what I can do. I have never been in that position where I struggled like that, but I stayed confident. I’m a hard worker and I knew someday I would be up here.
“Nobody is perfect. If this game is about what you want, for me it would be like hitting 2,000 home runs. But that’s not going to happen, you know what I mean?”