Marlins' top catching prospect finds his voice -- and hones his glove

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Unlike the Duolingo owl that suddenly met his demise, then came back to life over the past month, Marlins catching prospect Agustin Ramirez has kept up with his lessons.

For two years, Ramírez studied English as a second language via the popular app. This spring, he spends 30 minutes learning with the organization’s education staff after workouts.

Ramírez knows what the doubters say about his ability to be a big league catcher. He doesn’t want to give them any more ammo. Every facet of his game from the physical to the mental to the communicative needs to be on par with -- if not better than -- his peers.

“I'm great,” Ramírez said in English. “I feel great. I'm working with my defense and working with my English, talking with the other guys. … I remember 2023 I felt a little bit quiet. They tell me, ‘Talk more.’ I remember this part, and right now I feel much more comfortable and better.”

According to MLB Pipeline’s 2024 scouting report, Ramírez lacks agility and soft hands, so his receiving, framing and blocking all need plenty of work. He has solid arm strength but a slow release that led to 104 steals in 132 attempts (79 percent) in 80 games last year. Some scouts believe he'll wind up at first base.

Not so fast.

When the Marlins acquired Ramírez last summer as the headliner of the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade with the Yankees, they did so with the intention of him becoming one of their backstops of the future.

“He's a catcher,” president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “He believes in himself as a catcher. We believe in him as a catcher.”

The 23-year-old Ramírez certainly has put in the effort to prove him and the organization right. He came to the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex in November to train for a week with catching coach Joe Singley, and later arrived well ahead of big league camp in early January.

The pair worked on tweaking Ramírez’s exchange (how he takes the ball out of his hand and how he loads his arm) in the hopes of cutting down on the successful basestealing attempts against him. More than anything else is the “win every strike” mentality of not taking any pitch off.

“We've been hammering all of it,” Singley said. “I think he's super talented, and there's a lot of low hanging fruit there. We're getting him in positions where he can let that athleticism go, slightly adjusting some things to help him block the ball and receive it without having to think about it too much. Just clearing up some positions for him to be an athlete.

“And then we're also working on his arm strength as well. Really hopeful that he could have a very long, nice Major League career as a catcher.”

If Ramírez can figure it out behind the dish, he would be the type of all-around catcher who is tough to find in today’s game.

Pipeline’s scouting report went on to say that with his short right-handed stroke, bat speed and strength, Ramírez makes consistent contact and produces impressive exit velocities. He showed more discipline and did a better job of using the entire field in 2023, fueling optimism that he'll be able to tap into most of his plus raw power. After struggling in his initial taste of Triple-A with the Yankees (.693 OPS in 29 games), he adjusted with his new organization at the same level (.805 OPS in 39 games).

In Wednesday’s Grapefruit League game against the Mets, Ramírez turned on a 94.4 mph sinker from right-hander Ben Simon and laced it into left field with an exit velocity of 115.1 mph – sixth fastest of any player this spring. There were only three instances of an MLB backstop hitting a ball that hard in 2024, and they were all off the bat of William Contreras. On Thursday, Ramírez worked a walk by laying off consecutive two-strike pitches.

“Catching is a tough position, especially a young catcher, and I think the times that he's been back there, he's handled himself well, and a lot of the game awareness, game situational things are going to just continue to feel more normal for him,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “That just takes some time. …

“While he's quiet, this guy's a really solid teammate. He's a really hard worker. He wants to catch. He realizes and sees for us, too, the value offensively that he can provide, doing it at that position, kind of where the bar is at the Major League level. Like, ‘Wow,’ what a unique combination.”

With primary catcher Nick Fortes scratched from Saturday night’s game against the Nationals due to back spasms, Ramírez stepped in for his first start of the spring. The way things project, Fortes and Rule 5 Draft pick Liam Hicks will be the catchers on the club’s Opening Day roster.

That doesn’t mean Ramírez can’t make things interesting. He can use Spring Training as a springboard for a Major League arrival sooner rather than later.

“That I'm ready, that I'm ready to give 100 percent,” Ramírez said. “Ready to work and give all I got.”