As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, outfielder Heliot Ramos has suffered a mild left oblique strain during Friday’s spring training game.  There is no timetable for his return yet, as he will be re-evaluated over the weekend.

The first round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2017 was not in big league camp, but had made two appearances in Spring Training games for the Giants this spring.  On Friday, he’d hit his first home run, and was 2-for-5 overall for the spring.

Oblique strains have become increasingly common in baseball.  According to MLB’s Health and Injury Tracking System, a Grade 1 (Mild) Oblique Strain takes an average of 27 days to recover from, while the most severe strains can take 3-4 months.  If Ramos’ strain is indeed just a minor one, he would miss most of Spring Training, but have a little over a week of time left in Arizona before the minor league baseball season starts on April 9th.

Hitters often injure their obliques hitting, but it’s reported that Ramos injured himself on a throw in the fourth inning of Friday’s game.  His home run came after the injury, however.

In the past, Ramos’ most significant injury was when he missed just over a month of time in the 2019 season after tweaking his knee during a swing in late April.  He suffered an LCL strain in his left knee.  He also missed a few games after being hit in the hand with a pitch in August, but X-rays turned out negative.

Before this injury, Ramos was expected to start his season in Double-A Richmond.  He finished the 2019 season there, having hit .242/.321/.421 with three home runs in 25 games.  He previously had hit .306/.385/.500 with 13 home runs in 77 games at San Jose.  There are thoughts he could make his Major League debut in 2020 with a good season, but he’s not likely to have an opportunity to make a big impact in the Majors until 2021.