SAN DIEGO -- Agustín Ramírez isn’t your prototypical leadoff batter. Standing at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, he is a rookie catcher with a .318 on-base percentage. But boy can he hit -- and hit the ball hard.
With tablesetter Xavier Edwards rehabbing from a back injury and a southpaw starter on the mound for the Padres, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough flipped the left-handed-hitting Jesús Sánchez and the right-handed-hitting Ramírez in the order for the second time on Miami’s road trip.
All Ramírez, ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 97 overall prospect, did was set career highs with four hits and four RBIs in Wednesday afternoon’s 10-8 comeback victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
Not bad for a player who had never hit leadoff in his professional career until last Friday’s series opener in Anaheim, where he went 2-for-5. So does he like it?
“I'm having success,” a smiling Ramírez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I love it. The pitcher has to attack me right away. That's something I like.”
After blowing a 6-0 lead on Tuesday, the Marlins overcame multiple deficits in the series finale.
Trailing 8-7 in the eighth, Connor Norby was beaned and Nick Fortes got on via a fielding error by third baseman Manny Machado. Sánchez then beat out a potential double play against southpaw Wandy Peralta, putting runners on the corners with one out. Javier Sanoja flied out to shallow right before Marlins No. 26 prospect Victor Mesa Jr. walked to load the bases.
Ramírez, who tallied two RBI knocks earlier in the game, jumped a first-pitch 96.1 mph sinker for the go-ahead two-run single up the middle.
“When I saw Mesa getting that walk, I started thinking about the plan and thinking about [up the] middle,” Ramírez said. “He got in the zone, and I just won and was able to get the hit.”
What stands out to Norby is the fact Ramírez just missed a slider to open the game, sharply flying out to left, before lining a first-pitch sweeper for his seventh home run -- tied for most among Major League rookies -- in the third. It snapped a seven-game homerless drought -- the longest of his young career.
“Besides that he hits everything hard, whether it's on the ground or in the air?” Norby said of what makes Ramírez so talented. “He's got an extremely good approach for a 23-year-old, and [an] extremely mature approach. His bat-to-ball [skill] is really good for a guy that has as much power as he does. He doesn't strike out a ton. He's got a very fundamentally sound swing.
“I think just the last piece for him is understanding how he's going to get pitched to, because there's a stretch [where] he's going to get a lot more offspeed, right? And it's taken some time to get used to that.”
When the Padres scored five runs in the fourth against ace Sandy Alcantara, Ramírez also was in the thick of the Marlins’ game-tying five-run rally in the fifth.
Following an inning-ending outfield assist to throw out Fernando Tatis Jr. in the fourth, Sánchez went deep against Kyle Hart for his first homer off a lefty this season. Ramírez would go on to produce an RBI single.
Two batters later, Otto Lopez greeted righty David Morgan with a then-game-tying three-run homer. He drilled a 97.4 mph four-seamer over the left-field wall for his fourth long ball of the season.
“There was a real calmness in the box today,” McCullough said of Ramírez. “I think he just got himself into great counts. I think he spit on a lot of pitches that were close, used the middle of the field. Even recently, he's been hitting the ball hard and maybe not getting some of the results for it. So just kind of sticking with that. Big day for him today. The end results of getting the four hits was great, but I just thought every at-bat was just high-quality, really professional.”
As Ramírez continues to rake, he remains near the top of the National League rookie leaderboard in various categories:
- Tied for first in doubles (11)
- Tied for first in homers (seven)
- Tied for third in RBIs (17)
- Second-highest slugging percentage (.525)
- Second-highest OPS (.843, min. 30 games)
“I've not felt like a rookie since Day One,” Ramírez said. “I think it's a combination of the staff, the teammates, everybody has been treating me very well, very calm and it's the same game, just trying to do the same thing I've been doing since I was in the Minors.”