April 21: Ramirez’s promotion to the majors is official, per a team announcement. Miami officially recalled Ramirez and righty George Soriano from Triple-A Jacksonville. Lefty Cade Gibson was optioned to Triple-A to open one spot, while Brantly was placed on the 10-day IL due to a right lat strain in order to open the other.
April 20: The Marlins are calling up catching prospect Agustin Ramirez prior to tomorrow’s game against the Reds, SportsGrid’s Craig Mish reports. Ramirez will be making his Major League debut whenever the 23-year-old backstop appears in a game.
The corresponding moves aren’t yet known, though Ramirez is already on Miami’s 40-man roster. The likeliest 26-man roster move probably relates to catcher Rob Brantly, who made an early exit from today’s 7-5 win over the Phillies due to right shoulder discomfort. As per the Fish On First blog, the Marlins were already planning to call Ramirez up prior to today’s game and Brantly’s injury, so it’s a rough outcome for Brantly if he got hurt and lost his roster spot in the same day (though if he was on the cusp of a DFA anyhow, he’ll at least continue to accrue MLB service time and pay a bit longer this way).
Baseball Prospectus ranked Ramirez as the 55th-best prospect in baseball prior to the 2025 season, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel also had Ramirez 96th on his top-100 list. In their ranking of Marlins prospects only, Baseball America slots Ramirez third and MLB Pipeline has him fourth. The pundits agree that Ramirez has a lot of hitting potential, with plus power and good contact numbers, plus a good batting eye. While not a quick baserunner, Ramirez is a canny baserunner who has stolen 53 bases (out of 63 attempts) during his minor league career — “in particular, he loves to steal third base by timing up pitchers’ looks,” as per BA’s scouting report.
It remains to be seen if Ramirez will stick behind the plate, as he is considered below average in pretty much every defensive category. Ramirez does has a strong throwing arm, but evaluators note that he can’t take full advantage due to a lack of accuracy, plus he isn’t quick in getting the ball out of his glove. If former first-rounder Joe Mack is the Marlins’ true catcher of the future, Ramirez’s eventual home might be first base, so that will put more pressure on Ramirez to produce at the bat-first position.
The Marlins have used Ramirez just as a catcher (and DH) during his two years in their organization. Ramirez was an international signing for the Yankees during the 2018 int’l window, and was dealt to Miami last July as part of the three-player return the Marlins received for Jazz Chisholm Jr. Over 86 games and 362 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Ramirez has hit .248/.340/.430, with 12 home runs, 19 doubles, and 14 steals in 15 attempts.
Since starting catcher Nick Fortes is also on the 10-day IL recovering from an oblique injury, the Marlins’ decision to promote Ramirez may have been at least partially forced by a lack of depth behind the plate, which has now become pronounced if Brantly is out. Ramirez and Rule 5 Draft pick Liam Hicks now comprise Miami’s catching corps, and if Ramirez hits well, the rebuilding Marlins will likely let him stick around on the big league roster in order to get more experience in the Show.
Sounds like Agustin is mostly up to catch rather than to play DH or 1B unless his bt forces the issue.
Catching has been a dark hole for the Fish since the days of Charles Johnson, Pudge and that brief cameo appearance by Mike Piazza. Let the kid play and learn. If the D doesn’t improve, shuffle him up the line to 1B. JMHO, but I doubt Mervis is the long-time solution there. I’d also trade Sanchez. By the time the Fish are good Sanchez will be collecting Social Security checks. Get something for him now before people forget about his decent 2024. Any number of teams could use an outfielder with decent pop. Probably hit more HR in every park than he does at home with maybe SF the lone exception.
Marlins put together a nice win against the Phillies last night. They have some good pitching. With Alcantara, Meyer and Perez at the top of the rotation, their window will be opening soon.
Sanchez is a .240 hitter that will be moved. He is abotu the same as De La Cruz. We will get a scrub for him. Sanchez makes too much money for this team. Every player who hits arbitrtion is gone.
“Every player who hits arbitration is gone.”
Gross over simplification. The Marlins are sinking a lot of money into Front Office & player development staff, facilities and equipment. Yes there will be a lot of turnover of players, but I really think they are in the business of trading up.
It’s yet to be proven that the Rays model can win the World Series, but it can build strong post season teams. FO is hoping Norby, Mayer, Stowers, Perez are part of that. Maybe a couple of others.
Very much a bat first player, having seen him attempt to catch at Jacksonville this year a couple of times, the Marlins would be smart to limit him to a once a week stint behind the plate. It sucks for Brantly, as he has embraced his role as the steady veteran presence on the Marlins, as well as providing quality defense and at-bats.
I haven’t really heard of him much. All I know is he was a common in mlb the show and he was traded for jazz
I was hoping to see Joe Mack make the jump from AA. 1.078 OPS from a defensive catcher who knows the pitching staff from Spring Training is worth the risk
Ramirez’s unique blend of power and speed positions him as a potential game-changer.