The San Francisco Giants selected center fielder Heliot Ramos (Leadership Christian Academy, Puerto Rico) with the 19th overall selection in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft, the club announced tonight.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder is the highest-drafted player out of Puerto Rico since Carlos Correa was taken by the Houston Astros with the first-overall pick in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
The 17-year-old outfielder was named a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game First Team All-American. He was also named to the Canada/Puerto Rico All Region First Team by Rawlings/Perfect Game and is committed to Florida International University.
Ramos participated in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field and had a MVP-like performance, going 3-for-3 with a triple, home run and four RBI.
This marks the second-consecutive season the Giants have drafted an outfielder with their first pick, as they also drafted Bryan Reynolds out of Vanderbilt University with their second-round pick last season.
With the 58th pick in the draft, the Giants selected third baseman Jacob Gonzalez out of Chaparral High School in Arizona. The 6-foot-4, 203-pound senior batted .489 (44-for-90) with 38 runs, 14 doubles, seven home runs and 48 RBI this past season. He was also named a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game First Team All-American.
The TCU commit participated in the 2016 Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park and went 1-for-3 with two RBI in the contest. He is the son of former Major League baseball player Luis Gonzalez, who is currently a senior advisor to Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall.