The Marlins have three catchers on their 40-man roster. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald experiences that the membership would like to open the season with Agustín Ramírez and Liam Hicks within the large leagues, with Joe Mack optioned to Triple-A, although it’s doable Mack may win a job.
Ramírez has proven numerous promise with the bat however was arguably the worst defensive catcher within the majors final 12 months. In 605 2/3 innings, he was behind the plate for 19 handed balls and 36 wild pitches. By way of the handed balls, Ramírez lapped the sphere, with no different backstop permitting greater than 9. 4 catchers have been current for a bigger totals of untamed pitches however all of them had bigger samples of enjoying time.
Fashionable analytics additionally agree. Ramírez was credited with minus-14 Defensive Runs Saved final 12 months. The one man worse was Salvador Perez at minus-15, in a bigger pattern of innings. Fielding Run Worth had Ramirez at -12, worse than everybody apart from Edgar Quero. Statcast ranked Ramírez as one of many worst catchers when it comes to blocking and controlling the working sport, although his framing was effectively regarded.
It feels inevitable that Ramírez will get moved to designated hitter or first base, the place he has spent a while within the minors. The Fish don’t actually have a slam-dunk first baseman standing in the way in which, as they’re going into the season with a hodgepodge group consisting of Hicks, Christopher Morel, Connor Norby, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley. However the Marlins are apparently not fairly able to make that transfer. Jackson experiences that they nonetheless need to give Ramírez a shot to point out some enchancment behind the plate and doubtlessly stick as a viable backstop.
That might go away Mack trapped at Triple-A for some time longer, although he feels just like the long-term reply behind the plate. The thirty first general choose from the 2021 draft, Mack performed 112 video games final 12 months, 99 of these on the Triple-A degree. His 27.9% strikeout fee at that degree was a bit excessive however he hit 18 house runs and slashed .250/.320/.459 for a 107 wRC+. That’s nice manufacturing for a catcher, particularly one with a powerful defensive popularity like Mack. The Marlins added him to their 40-man roster in November to maintain him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Going into 2026, Mack is a consensus high 100 prospect, which implies the prospect promotion incentive components in. If the Marlins have been to hold him on the roster early sufficient to get a full 12 months of service time, he may web them an additional draft choose by enjoying effectively sufficient to garner awards consideration. In the event that they don’t name him up that early, he may earn a full 12 months of service retroactively with a high two end in Rookie of the 12 months voting.
If Mack ends the 2026 season with a full 12 months of service, he can be on tempo without cost company after the 2031 season. If the Marlins maintain him down lengthy sufficient to not get a full 12 months of service and he doesn’t get one retroactively, then that schedule can be pushed into the long run by a 12 months.
Turning to the pitching workers, right-hander Janson Junk suffered a proper ankle sprain a few week in the past and was in a strolling boot for some time. It appears he’s shifting rapidly previous the difficulty. Per the MLB.com harm tracker, he was scheduled to throw 15 to 18 pitches off a mound yesterday. There hasn’t been phrase on him since, so he presumably threw with out problem. He posted a 4.17 earned run common for the Marlins in a swing position final 12 months. As of now, he’ll in all probability open the season as an extended reliever however may earn a rotation job if accidents open a path for him.
Picture courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Photos
