Young hitters can struggle with their command of the strike zone, but White Sox rookie third baseman Bryan Ramos isn’t having that issue.
Ramos has struck out seven times in 41 plate appearances. He has walked only once, but he isn’t expanding the zone or swinging at bad pitches. Through Saturday, Ramos had chased only 18.3% of pitches outside the zone, according to Baseball Savant. He also is making pitchers work, seeing an average of 3.463 pitches per plate appearance.
‘‘Since I’ve been here, I’ve been trying to be as simple as I can at home plate,’’ Ramos said. ‘‘That’s helped me a lot. I’m trying to get a good pitch and hit the ball somewhere.’’
Manager Pedro Grifol has noticed what Ramos does well. He cited the quickness of Ramos’ hands and his strong hand-eye coordination. Perhaps most important, there aren’t a lot of moving parts in Ramos’ swing.
And for a hitter as inexperienced as Ramos is, simple is good.
‘‘It’s definitely an asset,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘When you don’t have a lot of moving parts in your swing and you’re consistent the way he is, it puts you in a good spot to hit every single time. . . . Now all you’ve got to do is make sure that you’re not chasing, [that] you’re swinging at good pitches.”
As for the lack of walks, Ramos said he isn’t concerned. He figures that if he keeps working counts and being selective, he’ll start drawing more free passes.
‘‘I’m seeing a lot of pitches, but I don’t worry about [not walking a lot] yet,’’ Ramos said. ‘‘I just try to hit a good pitch and put the ball in play and hit some hard.’’
That last part is a key for Grifol. Because Ramos has such good hand-eye coordination, he could make weak contact on pitches he shouldn’t chase, leading to easy outs and wasted at-bats.
For now, though, that hasn’t been an issue.
‘‘It’s been a pleasant surprise,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘When you first get up [to the majors], the first five or six games, the league doesn’t really know you. But then they get to know you right away. Now you’ve got the advance scout [and] the analytics people watching you. Everything is happening. They make adjustments quickly. . . . The first week he got pitched very little inside, then he starts getting pitched hard inside. So it’s been a little bit of an adjustment for him.
‘‘He’s done well. He’s done really well.’’
Still on track
Center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who has been on the injured list since April 6 with a strained right hip flexor, will continue his rehab at Triple-A Charlotte. The Knights’ next game is Tuesday against Worcester.
Robert had been with the Sox’ team in the Arizona Complex League.
Welcome back
The Sox claimed left-hander Sammy Peralta off waivers from the Mariners. Peralta, 26, was 1-1 with a 9.24 ERA in 12 appearances for Triple-A Tacoma.
Peralta appeared in 16 games for the Sox last season, compiling a 4.05 ERA and striking out 18 in 20 innings. The Mariners claimed him off waivers from the Sox on April 2.
