The Yankees recently promoted Ben Rice to the Major Leagues, creating an opening at catcher for someone in Double-A to get a promotion. Agustin Ramirez, who has arguably been the best hitter in the organization this season, is the one earning the move up to Triple-A, and his powerful swing brings plenty of upside. There’s a lot to love in his profile, as the 22-year-old has drawn comparisons to Gary Sanchez offensively, and while the defense is a work in progress, the skills are all there for him to become a strong presence behind the plate.
Credit on the first report goes to Yankees Farm on Twitter, who broke the news last night on their social media page. With some of the best raw power in all of Minor League Baseball, Agustin Ramirez is already on the 40-man roster, and he could become a name to watch in the coming weeks as Triple-A has Statcast data we can track.
Agustin Ramirez Promoted to Triple-A, Yankees Have Another Catching Stud
In 58 games with the Somerset Patriots, Agustin Ramirez slashed .289/.372/.570 while leading Double-A in home runs (16). His 159 wRC+ and .942 OPS were some of the best marks in the Eastern League, and he has a great ability to do damage on contact with a low strikeout rate (16.5%) as well. Ramirez broke out last season when he rose from Single-A to Double-A thanks to his power and plate discipline, hitting a career-high 18 home runs in 114 games.
Just two home runs away from matching that mark, Ramirez is actually striking out less than he did in 2023, and the Yankees could be looking at a top-100 or even a top-50 prospect in the game here. Agustin Ramirez has 75-80 Grade Raw Power, generating exit velocities that reach 115 MPH while averaging 94 MPH off the bat as well. At the Major League level, there are only five players who have reached or exceeded that average EV, with two of them being Aaron Judge (96.8) and Juan Soto (95.0).
Few prospects have the all-around skillset that Agustin Ramirez has, possessing an incredibly rare ability to avoid strikeouts while crushing the baseball with a bevy of round-trippers and two-baggers.
See that red dot? Yea that’s Agustin Ramirez. There’s nobody running strikeout rates as low as his while coming within his stratosphere in terms of power production, and that combination of skills makes him one of the best catching prospects in the game. What excites me the most about this promotion as well is as mentioned earlier, there’s Statcast data on him now, and we’ll get to see first-hand what the batted ball data looks like.
The exit velocity numbers should be gaudy, and the Yankees could be looking at Agustin Ramirez to become a future mainstay behind the dish. It could also be a scenario where they look at Ramirez as a trade chip, and while I’ve sung his praises, there’s no such thing as an untouchable in the right kind of deal.