Giants promote Bart, Ramos to Richmond

The Richmond Flying Squirrels are about to take off to new heights. 
The Giants are promoting Top-100 prospectsJoey Bart (No. 21) and Heliot Ramos (No. 55) from Class A Advanced San Jose to Double-A Richmond for this weekend's homestand, the Eastern League club announced Thursday. San Francisco is also sending its No. 6 prospect Sean Hjelle to Double-A along with them. Richmond wraps up a series at Altoona on Thursday before taking on Bowie for four games beginning Friday.

ROSTER MOVES: Top #SFGiants prospects Joey Bart (@JBart9GT), Heliot Ramos (@HeliotRamos) and Sean Hjelle are being promoted to the Flying Squirrels ahead of this weekend's homestand pic.twitter.com/HkhRIV7cen

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 8, 2019

Bart was taken by the Giants with the second overall pick in the 2018 Draft and continues his fast rise with this latest promotion. The 22-year-old catcher hit .265/.315/.479 with 12 homers in 57 games with San Jose. Bart has been limited in his first full season after a hand fracture suffered on a hit-by-pitch on April 14 caused him to miss nearly two months. Now fully healthy, the Georgia Tech product caught fire recently, hitting .315 with six homers and a .942 OPS in his last 20 Cal League games. 

Considered the No. 2 catching prospect in the game behind Orioles backstop Adley Rutschman, Bart draws raves for his combination of plus power, a plus arm and above-average overall defensive skills. He will be the third-highest-ranked prospect in the Eastern League upon his arrival, behind only No. 2 Casey Mize and No. 14 Nate Pearson.
Given his age, Ramos's ascension through the Giants' system has been even more accelerated. The 2017 first-rounder, who turns 20 on Sept. 20, will join Nationals No. 2 prospect Luis Garcia as the only player to appear in the Eastern League in his age-19 season in 2019. The outfielder leaves the Cal League ranking third with a .306 average and .885 OPS, fifth with a .385 on-base percentage and seventh with a .500 slugging percentage through 77 games. He also added 13 homers, 18 doubles and six stolen bases. 

Ramos earns above-average grades for his power and run tools, and his arm is considered plus as well. He has played exclusively in center field throughout his Minor League career and notched five outfield assists this season with San Jose. Ramos is a two-time All-Star Futures Game selection and was joined by Bart on this year's National League squad in Cleveland.
Hjelle was the Giants' second-round pick out of the University of Kentucky last year. Known for his height at 6-foot-11, the right-hander will move on to his third level in his first full season. He posted a 2.74 ERA with 118 strikeouts and 28 walks over 118 1/3 innings between Class A Augusta and Class A Advanced San Jose.