Agustín Ramírez launches walk-off homer vs. Dodgers

The Marlins are using a pretty strict platoon lineup these days. Ramírez will DH and hit third, while Ruiz will play right field and bat fifth, and Serna will play second base and hit eighth. Kyle Stowers will shift to the bench for this one, as will Owen Caissie and Graham Pauley, who all play primarily versus righties.

The 24-year-old backstop got the start as the Marlins’ designated hitter in this one and didn’t disappoint, clubbing a 426-foot (108.3-mph EV) solo shot on a first-pitch cutter from Michael Wacha in the fourth inning. He’s now hitting .230/.325/.339 with three homers, 18 RBI and four stolen bases in 200 plate appearances with the Marlins on the season.

Stowers was hit on the foot by a Craig Kimbrel pitch, but unfortunately, it was another hamstring issue that did him in tonight. He was just on the IL from Aug. 11-24 with a left hamstring strain. He also missed the start of the season with a right hamstring strain. If Stowers goes back on the IL, it would potentially lead to more at-bats for Agustín Ramírez and Deyvison De Los Santos.

This is a surprise, as there hadn’t really been any news on Stowers since he went on the IL with a hamstring strain on Aug. 11. Deyvison De Los Santos will return to Triple-A to make room for Stowers. Agustín Ramírez will likely lose some playing time.

Mack takes a seat for the third consecutive contest due to lingering right shoulder soreness. His prolonged absence doesn’t come as a surprised based on comments from Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough earlier this week that he would need a couple days off to address the issue. It’ll be Brian Navarreto continuing to handle the catching duties with Agustin Ramírez at DH.

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough indicated that Mack is probably going to need a couple days off to rest and recover. It doesn’t sound like there’s a high level of concern that he’ll require a trip to the injured list. It’ll be Brian Navaretto handling the catching duties for the second straight game with Agustin Ramírez at DH. The 23-year-old defensive specialist has hit .240 with 12 homers in 243 plate appearances since arriving in the big leagues back in early May.

It’s his third start in four games, and the second behind the plate. It stands to reason that he could benefit majorly from Kyle Stowers’ hamstring injury. Ramírez is by no means a must-roster at this point, but he’s a streamable catcher who looks to be coming into more playing time down the stretch. Perhaps he can rebound from a rocky start to the season.

It’s become a lot less challenging to forecast Ramírez from a playing time standpoint after Miami jettisoned Liam Hicks at the trade deadline. The 24-year-old has zero shot at reclaiming the starting catcher role given his defensive shortcomings, especially now that defensive wizard Joe Mack is firmly entrenched in the role. However, he figures to see enough time between first base and DH to matter for fantasy purposes. There have never really been a ton of questions regarding his offensive ability and having less competition for at-bats should help Ramírez tremendously.

There was some expectation that this would happen after Liam Hicks was traded to Tampa Bay, but it’s still a bit of a surprise. Hicks was being used primarily as a designated hitter with Joe Mack entrenched as the catcher, so Ramírez will either be a short-side platoon at catcher or the designated hitter, or a little bit of both. The consequence of that would be that one of Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernandez, or Owen Caissie will no longer be penciled in as the full-time designated hitter in the wake of Hicks’ trade.

The 27-year-old Hicks, who won’t be a free agent until after 2030, is probably overachieving some at .282/.363/.432 as a sophomore this year, but he’ll still provide a nice lift over the Rays’ catching duo of Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes. Since Hicks and Feduccia are lefty hitters and Fortes is a righty, it’s Feduccia who would seem to be in line for a demotion. No official word yet on whether the Marlins will promote Agustín Ramírez. They already had Brian Navarette up as a third catcher with Hicks often DHing, so they could pick someone else if they don’t see Ramírez getting enough playing time as a DH and backup to Joe Mack.