Agustin Ramirez is making his mark on Major League Baseball in a big way.
Even in Miami, where players can sometimes get overlooked, the 23-year-old catcher has grabbed attention with how he’s started his career. Wednesday night brought another milestone.
Ramirez notched his second multi-steal game of the season. He’s already got three multi-homer games under his belt.
That puts him in some exclusive company. He’s only the third player to record three multi-HR games and two multi-SB games before hitting 90 career appearances, per OptaStats. Ramirez reached the mark in his 89th game, matching Darryl Strawberry’s pace. Only Duke Kenworthy did it faster, accomplishing the feat in 88 games.
The numbers keep piling up. Ramirez now has 24 doubles, 17 homers, 51 RBI and seven steals this season.
He’s hitting .243 and doesn’t draw many walks, but that still adds up to a solid .750 OPS. The bat plays, and that’s what matters most.
What makes this story even better is how Ramirez got to Miami. The Marlins acquired him as one of three minor-league players in the Jazz Chisholm trade with the Yankees last July. He wasn’t considered a top prospect at that point, though Baseball Prospectus did rank him No. 55 in all of baseball heading into this season – the only service to put him in their top-100.
The defense behind the plate needs work, but that bat is making believers out of everyone in the organization.
Miami’s been playing well in the second half, and while a playoff run seems unlikely, it’s building momentum for next season. They’ve got young talent throughout the system, and guys like Ramirez are showing why the future looks brighter in South Beach than it has in quite a while.
Sometimes the best moves are the ones that don’t make headlines at the time.
