Agustin Ramirez off to strong start for Somerset Patriots

Somerset Patriots, Baseball, Featured, Professional

April 16, 2024

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The Somerset Patriots are back in town after being defeated by the New Hampshire FisherCats, Toronto's Double-A Affiliate, at the Delta Dental Stadium. The Patriots are now 4-5 after the road trip, where they closed the series with the FisherCats with 13-9 defeat. They tacked on some runs late in the game after a crooked 13-4 deficit in the sixth inning.

The silver lining of the series was Patriots' catcher, Agustin Ramirez. Ramirez is currently the Double-A leader in home runs with six, one of which helped the Patriots' win Saturday's game.

Agustin Ramirez is on literal fire! SIXTH HOMER of the season! 🔥 #Patriots #RepBx pic.twitter.com/4en0IpK2pG

— Dugout Station (@DugoutStation) April 13, 2024

The 22-year-old is the Yankees' No. 22 ranked prospect and was protected from the Rule 5 Draft this winter. Ramirez was born on September of 2001 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. On July 12, 2018, he was signed by the Yankees for $400k, which was the most of any Dominican catcher in 2018-2019. He played in the Yankees' Dominican Summer League in 2019 and played on their FCL team for two seasons from 2021-2022. Ramirez started the 2023 season with the Yankees Low-A Affiliate, Tampa Tarpons, where he played 56 games and showcased his bat power and defensive skills.

2021: .220/.321/.462 | 4 HR | 15 RBI | .783 OPS | 91 AB

2022: .220/.386/.506 | 6 HR | 51 RBI | 13 SB | .892 OPS | 168 AB

2023: .271/.364/.455 | 18 HR | 68 RBI | 12 SB | .819 OPS | 424 AB

RED HOT RAMIREZ 2-run shot! He has homered in five consecutive games! 🥵 #SomersetPatriots #Repbx pic.twitter.com/AxsO7AK34Z

— Dugout Station (@DugoutStation) April 12, 2024

Ramirez has played a total of eight games and has homered in six of them. He hit a home run in each game of the Patriots' opening weekend at TD Park. It was the second time he accomplished three-homers in three consecutive games (4/7-4/9) and (4/11-4/13). As of April 15, Agustin is leading the Eastern League in home runs (six), RBIs (13), slugging percentage (.834), total bases (27) and OPS (1.239) through eight games played this season. Ramirez is currently slashing .281/.395/.844 with a pair of stolen bases. He has caught a total of three games with a fielding percentage of .973.

The 6'0", 210 pounder already has baseball talking heads comparing Ramirez to former Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez, who was drafted by the Yankees in July of 2009. Sanchez and Ramirez may share the same homeland of Dominican Republic, but they are built different, in fact, his ceiling as it relates to defense may be a lot higher than Sanchez. Ramirez currently has a 40% caught stealing percentage, having thrown out two of five baserunners.

Defensive stats:

2021: .973% FLD | 38% CS

2022: .976% FLD | 33% CS

2023: .991 FLD% | 21% CS

Agustin Ramirez can do it all!
2-run bomb ✅
2 CS ✅#SomersetPatriots #RepBx pic.twitter.com/pNpP2NpzXc

— Dugout Station (@DugoutStation) April 12, 2024

Ramirez received a promotion to Hudson Valley on June 29. He played 27 games at Hudson and had nine home runs, 34 RBIs and an OPS of 1.144 in 112 at-bats. Ramirez then earned his promotion to Somerset on August 8 of last year, where he spent the last few months of the 2023 season at Somerset. For the Patriots, he tallied 27 hits, six home runs and 11 RBIs. These stats do not translate his presence on the field. His strong start is encouraging and he's especially showing signs of improvement behind the dish where he has caught two baserunners on the season.

Up next, Somerset Patriots take on the Hartford Yard Goats April 16 - April 21 for a six-game series. Stay tuned to Jersey Sporting News for series recap.

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