Giants call up Wilkin Ramos, Buddy Kennedy from Triple-A Sacramento

The Giants turned to Triple-A Sacramento for help when the pressure got too loud to ignore, selecting right-hander Wilkin Ramos and infielder Buddy Kennedy after dropping a series to the last-place Rockies and then stumbling deeper into another ugly night in Milwaukee. The moves were made to steady a roster that had begun to crack in real time, with San Francisco trying to patch both pitching depth and infield support as the season’s early turbulence kept forcing emergency decisions.

To open those spots, the Giants optioned catcher Jesus Rodriguez, placed right-hander Joel Peguero on the 60-day injured list with a moderate left hamstring strain, and designated catcher Logan Porter for assignment. Peguero had gone 0-0 with a 2.38 ERA in 11 appearances before the injury move, but the health setback pushed San Francisco into a more immediate scramble. That is where Sacramento came back into the picture, again serving as the final stop before a player is asked to help stop the bleeding in the majors.

Ramos, 25, brought the strongest Triple-A momentum. The right-hander had gone 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA and 27 strikeouts across his first 17 games for the River Cats, then made that production matter immediately by debuting in the majors against Milwaukee. His first big league appearance came with the Giants already spiraling in a 16-2 loss, but he still logged a personal milestone by recording his first career strikeout. For a club searching for any reliable arm to absorb innings and keep games from getting away, Ramos arrived as a live answer from Sacramento rather than a long-term bet left to simmer.

Kennedy’s call-up addressed a different hole. The 27-year-old right-handed infielder from Millville, New Jersey, had signed a minor league deal with San Francisco in the offseason and had already worn major league uniforms for several other clubs before joining the Giants. He can play second base and third base, and that versatility mattered on a night when the lineup was already unraveling. By the time Kennedy entered, the game had slipped out of reach, leaving him to debut in the middle of the same 16-2 collapse that swallowed Ramos’ first outing.

Matt Chapman’s homer, his first since March 31, briefly gave San Francisco a lead, but Landen Roupp’s start fell apart and Milwaukee buried the Giants with a huge second inning. That made the Sacramento promotions look less like routine roster management and more like a survival move, with Ramos and Kennedy called up to solve immediate problems in a team that could not afford another bad weekend.