Top Prospect Agustín Ramírez Shines for Marlins in MLB Debut

Agustín Ramírez started off his MLB career on the right foot. Catching and batting sixth for the Miami Marlins on Monday, the top prospect went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. The Marlins beat the Reds 6-3.

Ramírez’s glove remains a work in progress. He gave up two stolen bases, a passed ball, and a wild pitch in his big league debut. Keep in mind, however, that he also caught a 14-strikeout showing from Max Meyer, and Marlins pitchers only walked one batter all game. Ramírez deserves credit for his role in calling that dominant performance.

More to the point, his bat has always been his carrying tool. His glovework has always been shaky.

More than anything, the 23-year-old needs to hit if he’s going to succeed as a major leaguer. That’s exactly what he did last night. That’s not to say Ramírez doesn’t need to work on his defense. He certainly does. But his strong debut performance at the plate matters far more right now than his flaws behind it.

Marlins fans have every reason to be excited about their team’s latest call-up.

Agustín Ramírez was the highest-ranked Marlins position player on Just Baseball’s preseason Top 100 Prospects list. For more on Ramírez, check out what Aram Leighton had to say about the power-hitting catcher:

56. Agustín Ramírez – C – Miami Marlins

Height/Weight: 6’0″, 210 | Bat/Throw: R/R | IFA: $400K, 2019 (NYY) | ETA: 2025

HIT	Plate Disc.	GAME POWER	RUN	FIELD	FV
50/50	45/50	50/60	40/40	40/40	50+

A bat-first backstop, Ramírez broke out in 2023, climbing three levels while mashing to a 123 wRC+ between Low-A, High-A and Double-A. He torched Double-A pitching through the first half of the 2024 season before headlining the Jazz Chisholm Jr. return to the Marlins.

Offense

Starting crouched with his weight stacked towards his back side, Agustín gathers with a moderate leg kick, slight coil and minimal hand movement. He posts elite exit velocities, with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 108 mph, but is still working towards tapping into his big raw power more consistently in games.

His flatter swing path results in more ground balls than desired, though it is worth noting that he took a step in the right direction in this regard in the 2024 season, mostly against fastballs, eclipsing last season’s home run total of 18 in just 72 games.

He pulverized fastballs to an OPS north of 1.100 through his first 90 games of the 2024 season, but the dichotomy between his Hard Hit Launch angle on four seamers (18 degrees) vs. all other offerings (3.5 degrees). If he can create more loft in his swing, there’s plus easily power potential for Ramírez. He has improved in the plate discipline department, cutting his chase rate at the upper levels and walking at a decent clip.

Defense/Speed

Defensively, he is somewhat limited in terms of his agility and mobility, but has improved with his technique and blocking behind the dish. While he can look a bit mechanical at times, he looks like he can stick at catcher.

His arm is above average, he just needs to find more quickness and consistency with his transfer to limit the run game more effectively. Though he is not the fleetest of foot, Ramírez loves to opportunistically swipe bags, grabbing 18 on 20 tries in 2024 before his trade to the Marlins.

Outlook

He’s unlikely to be much more than a fringy defender who is carried by his bat, but there’s enough upside offensively to carve out an everyday catcher role. Easy plus raw power and solid contact rates within the zone make Ramírez’s potential with the bat tantalizing.

If he can make a slight adjustment to his swing path, he will not only be more likely to tap into his 30-homer upside, but he will also handle secondary stuff much better as well. Ramírez projects as the Marlins’ backstop of the future.