MIAMI -- Agustín Ramírez made his latest case for National League Rookie of the Year consideration in the Marlins’ 8-2 victory over the Tigers on Friday night at loanDepot park.
Ramírez set the tone for the Marlins’ three-homer night and third consecutive win -- the club’s best stretch since sweeping the Yankees to open August -- by drilling an elevated 97.6 mph four-seamer from reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal over the left-field wall for a solo homer in the first. The long ball snapped Skubal’s string of 14 consecutive scoreless innings and gave Miami’s right-handed-heavy lineup confidence against one of the game’s best.
In doing so, Ramírez became the first Marlins rookie to hit 20 home runs in a season since Justin Bour (2015, 23), and the eighth overall. With 14 games remaining, Ramírez trails Josh Willingham (26 in 2006) and J.T. Realmuto (21 in ‘18) for most blasts by a Marlins catcher in franchise history.
“Super happy,” Ramírez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “This is a great joy for me. I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but 20 home runs, I think I can do a little bit better, improve my adjustments, and just get better numbers.”
Ramírez, who turned 24 on Wednesday, leads all NL rookies in homers, hits (110), doubles (28), total bases (200), runs (64) and hard-hit balls (179) and ranks second in RBIs (63) and fifth in OPS (.701, min. 100 games).
Since Sept. 1, however, Ramírez has scuffled as pitchers have attacked him differently. Entering the series opener, he was hitting .167/.231/.167 with no extra-base hits, two RBIs, three walks and seven strikeouts. His September OPS (.397) was well below his numbers from July (.605 OPS) and August (.676); plus, he was in the midst of a 10-game homerless drought spanning 39 plate appearances.
Then there’s the matter of Ramírez’s defense.
Over the offseason, the Marlins must decide on Ramírez’s future behind the dish. In a matchup of former Cy Young winners -- just the second instance in Marlins history -- Sandy Alcantara continued his strong stretch by giving up just two runs over a season-high-tying seven innings. Ramírez was initially charged with his MLB-leading 16th passed ball in the seventh before it was changed to a wild pitch. He also paces MLB backstops with 10 errors and the fewest baserunners caught stealing (six, min. 500 innings).
“I will say to improve a little more of my average, and then continue improving my defense,” Ramírez said of goals he has to close out 2025. “I truly want to show that I can be a good catcher.”
Added Alcantara, who could be seen talking to his batterymate inside the dugout after his start: “Nothing crazy out there. I just was telling him, ‘Thank you for catching the game today,’ like always. ... He's been doing great. He's getting better day by day. You guys can see early in the season, he just missed a lot of balls, like passed balls and everything, and he's making the adjustment. This game is like that, just one day you miss a lot of balls, next day you hit the hardest that you can, so you just come here and win the game.”
Putting the defense aside, it’s hard to deny what Ramírez has accomplished since making his Major League debut on April 21. The last time a rookie catcher reached the 20-homer benchmark was two years ago, when the Mets’ Francisco Alvarez (25) and the Astros’ Yainer Diaz (23) did so.
“[Bench coach] Carson Vitale brought it up in the dugout,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “You look up and he's like, ‘That's 20 homers for a rookie catcher.’ That's a really impressive feat. I think it's easy to get sometimes lost in one game after another and recent performance, but I think you would step back and look at the big picture with what Gus has been able to do offensively this year, and it's been incredibly impressive.
“For us, the best part of this is we believe that there's so much more in there. We think Gus, in particular offensively, has much more room to grow, and that 20 might be his floor, that this is something he's very capable of – and more – year in and year out. Great for him. He's put together a really fantastic rookie year at a demanding position.”