Agustín Ramírez was the worst defensive catcher in the majors last year. The Marlins haven’t given up on him yet, but maybe they should. They have one of the best chances to catch the front door knockers and there is an open way for them to enter the race this year.
31 different catchers have caught at least 600 innings in 2025. JT Realmuto led the way with 1151 1/3, nearly double the 605 2/3 held by Ramírez. Despite catching significantly fewer innings than most catchers in this sample, Ramírez led the pack with ten errors. He allowed 19 passed balls, which was more than twice as many as the next person on that list, as no one else allowed more than nine. He was also behind the plate for 36 wild pitches, which is the fault of the pitchers, but a good catcher can occasionally save his teammates from those. Four of those 31 catchers allowed a few more pitches but all in large sample sizes. In short, if Ramírez caught, the ball was too far back.
Those traditional figures have been aligned with more advanced ones. Ramírez was credited with minus-14 Defensive Runs Saved. Only Salvador Perezat minus-15, he was worse than him in that column. The Fielding Run Value calculation on FanGraphs has him at minus-12. Statcast marked him as giving away 13 runs, just before that Edgar Quero. Baseball Prospectus didn’t go down well on him overall, ranking him as one of the 13 worst catchers, but it was one team that didn’t like his pitching job.
Presumably, the Marlins were willing to put up with this in the hope that there was a way to improve. Ramírez has been a solid hitter in the minors and could be useful if his defense catches up to passing standards. He posted a combined .268 / .357 / .473 line in various minor league positions from 2023 to 2025, resulting in a 128 wRC+. His 11.5% walk rate and 18.4% strikeout rate were both strong stats and he hit 46 home runs in 1,120 games.
But his bat still hasn’t clicked in the majors, perhaps because he’s focused more on trying to improve his defense. Ramírez hit 21 home runs last year but with a low batting average and poor walk rate, resulting in a slash line of .231/.287/.413. That resulted in a 91 wRC+, which shows he was nine percent below league average. That’s not bad for a catcher as backstops are usually ten points below average, but it’s not good when you consider his glove work.
Heading into 2026, there was controversy over moving Ramírez from the role of first baseman and designated hitter. Getting to first will take some work, but Ramírez has played a role for others in the minors. While Ron Washington will tell you that going to first isn’t easy, catching is considered the most difficult position on the field and playing anywhere else would give Ramírez more ability to focus on his hitting.
All of that is especially true considering the presence of Joe Mackwho is one of the top catchers in the league. He is considered the most powerful outfielder behind the plate. He reached the Triple-A level in 2025, pitching in 99 games. His offense is considered more questionable than his defense but he slashed .250/.320/.459 with a 107 wRC+ with the Jumbo Shrimp last year. He was added to the 40-man roster in November to avoid entering the Rule 5 draft.
Fish could have gone with Mack and bumped Ramírez to first base, a position that was wide open. They didn’t go like that. They continued to stick Liam Hicks and Ramírez as their holding duo, splitting time almost equally. Ramírez was behind the plate 122 innings, compared to 123 for Hicks. Hicks is doing well, putting together adequate defense with a .314/.354/.523 line early this year, though he’s not great in the running game.
On the other hand, Ramírez has not shown any signs of improvement. His 122 innings pitched this year is nearly a fifth of last year’s 605 2/3. He still has four errors, about a tenth of what he had last year. That is tied with Quero for the league lead. He allowed three touchdown passes, a better pace than last year but not by much. Francisco Alvarez he is the only boy with more, four. Ramírez was behind the plate on nine pitches, a worse pace than last year. Only Logan O’Hoppe again Drew Mills allow them more. FanGraphs and Statcast go sour on his build a bit, though it’s a very small sample.
The Ramírez/Hicks pairing affects their pitchers in other ways as well, as nothing is better than controlling the run game. Fish allowed 191 stolen bases last year, easily the most in the majors. The Astros were a distant second on that list with 157. Miami only caught 24 attempted steals on the year. Technically, that was more than the 23 catches the Royals had, but that was because KC’s catchers were run very slowly, allowing just 47 steals. So far in 2026, the Marlins have allowed 37 steals, the most in the majors. They have caught only three.
Fishermen can sometimes provide value in other ways that are difficult to measure, such as working with casting crews. Even then, it’s hard to give Ramírez and Hicks much credit. Starting last year, the Marlins started calling social media. Ramírez and Hicks may still be working on communication and confidence but it’s fair to say they have less of an impact than other teams’ catchers.
The offense from Ramírez also continues to regress, as he is currently sporting a .235/.303/.367 line and an 84 wRC+ this year. It’s a small sample but he’s now hit 694 career plate appearances with a .231/.290/.406 line and a 90 wRC+.
Mack, meanwhile, continues to do well in Jacksonville. In his first 83 plate appearances for the Jumbo Shrimp this year, he has three home runs and a whopping 19.3% walk rate. Even with a subpar .267 batting average on balls in play, he has a .224/.373/.388 line and a 115 wRC+ this year.
Maybe there is a consideration of service time in the game. Mack is a consensus top 100 prospect in the league. The Fish could put him on the Opening Day roster and make him eligible for the team’s draft bonus as part of a promotion incentive. They choose not to. At this point, they may be considering a PPI reversal. Eligible players who are not promoted in the first few weeks of the season can be awarded a full year of service over and over again if they finish in the top two of the year’s voting.
If that were to happen, it would be the worst of both worlds for the Marlins, in a sense. They would not receive a bonus pick and their club control window on Mack would be a standard six, instead of being juiced up to six-plus. From a team perspective, you’re not going to be in that middle ground.
But the downside of keeping Mack down is that the big league club could be worse. Hopefully, there are no guarantees of immediate success, so it can’t be assumed that Mack will develop a major league team. But since a big part of his appeal is his defense, he should be key to at least be better than Ramírez in that regard. On offense, he’ll probably struggle for promotion, but it’s not like Ramírez is crushing the ball so far this year.
The Marlins have posted a combined .192/.248/.279 line from the DH spot this year, resulting in a 47 wRC+ that puts them ahead of only the Pirates and Rockies. Getting Ramírez in there, and having him focus a little more on catching, would obviously be good for the lineup.
And going back to the PPI situation, there is also a vacancy. Sal Stewart has nine home runs, a .291/.385/.602 line and 1.2 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs. JJ Wetherholt is at 1.1 fWAR as well Moises Ballesteros by 0.9. On the shooting side, Nolan McLean is at 1.3 fWAR as well Rhett Lowder 1.0. It’s extremely possible for Mack to come off as a monster while some of those guys struggle, but getting into the top two polls will be tough if those guys are already off to a good start.
On top of all that, there is a window for the Marlins to have a special season. On paper, they entered the year as the fourth-best team in the division, in the eyes of many observers. But the Phillies and Mets both got off to bad starts. It’s still early, and the Marlins are only four games behind those two clubs. But with the Mets and Phillies currently 9-19, there’s a real chance they won’t be able to climb into contention and end up trading at the deadline. In that case, the Marlins will still have to fight with other NL clubs for a wild card spot, because it sounds like Atlanta will run away with this division, but Miami’s chances feel much better than a few weeks ago even if it’s only 13-15.
Even setting aside the early season standings, which could change quickly, this feels like the right move for the Marlins to make. All signs point to Mack being the long-term answer behind the plate. Ramírez, on the other hand, seems to be better used as a striker. Perhaps the Marlins are hoping another club will take a chance on Ramírez as a catch-all project, which will allow them to use him in a deadline deal, but it’s hard to imagine when progress hasn’t really been made.
Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Isaiah J. Downing, Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
