Biography:
Alexander Ramirez was born in 2003 in the Dominican Republic. The Mets pursued and signed the international prospect in 2019, impressed by his projections and athleticism. Ramirez was given the third highest bonus in team history (below Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio) and would have played for the DSL Mets in 2020 were the season not lost to the Covid epidemic.
Resume:
The Mets aggressively assigned Ramirez to the Low-A Port St. Lucie in 2021 where the young outfielder performed well despite his age. His biggest concern was a very high strikeout per game ratio that outshone his otherwise solid numbers.
He was sent back to St. Lucie in 2022 and showed marked improvements across multiple aspects of his offensive game. His contact improved and he cut down his strikeout rate from 1.25 per game to just about 1 per game and didn’t lose anything in his power or speed output. He did not yet show much of an advanced eye at the plate as his walk rate remained relatively low but showed improvement.
Hitting:
Contact:
Ramirez is good at making contact and thanks to speed and power also seems to find his way on base at a healthy clip. He’s been hitting around .275 in his minor league career and that seems to be likely where his batting average would sit as he progresses unless he hits a roadblock in development. His batting average could improve more if he is able to increase his walk rate and decrease his strikeouts further.
Power:
Aaron Judge, he is not. Alex Ramirez profiles as a 15 home run hitter who will get a healthy amount of doubles and triples thanks to line drive power and his speed. It is possible that his makeup shifts from speed as he gets older and we could see his home run rates go up as well.
Speed:
Alex Ramirez is currently showing solid speed but also a tendency to be picked off too often. He has the speed to be a 30 stolen base per year guy but will hopefully learn to steal bases more selectively to avoid giving up outs to pitchers and catchers who are on guard. He is not a leadoff hitter and won’t be looked at to steal too many bases hitting in the heart of the minor league batting order, as he is.
Fielding:
His numbers and ability put him on pace to be a solid fielding outfielder with the ability to play all three outfield positions. He will be playing in center field for the foreseeable future.
Outlook:
The Mets seem likely to send Ramirez to AA Binghamton in 2023 and could have him ready for the majors as early as 2024. This would put him in line to relieve Starling Marte from centerfield duties in the nearish future in the case Brandon Nimmo doesn’t return. The concern with Ramirez is that he turns out to be too much like Ronny Mauricio, whose numbers in the minors are similar. It will be interesting if the Mets move Mauricio into the outfield this season to compare the two side by side.
Ramirez is in line to eventually replace Nimmo in CF, with Nimmo sliding over to LF.
He could have Nimmo’s moderate power, with more SBs, and be a better fielder.
How is his arm?
It looks like it’s solid but would not rate as a “Plus” tool.
Ramirez vs. Nimmo
Contact: Both players are very good at making contact, ball to bat
Eye: This is entirely in favor of Nimmo as Ramirez is not at all patient
Power: This edge goes to Ramirez who has always looked like a #3 hitter
Speed: Nimmo is fast but Ramirez knows how to steal bases and Nimmo does not
Defense: Nimmo made strides but Ramirez looks like a “Plus” defender in center
Arm: Neither player has an arm that makes people say “Wow!”
Thanks very much for the comparison, DG.
Ramirez split time between Lo-A and Hi-A in 2022. It wouldn’t surprise me if he began the year back in Hi-A and got another mid-season promotion. Of course, that will depend on how the org is filled with OFers.
I’d love it if the org felt he deserved to be in AA right from the jump. other OFers in the org be damned.
If you and I were in charge of the minor leagues we’d have so many prospects pushed to higher levels.
I like progressive promotions too. Once a prospect master his level, then challenge him and promote him to the next level. I’m not sure if Ramirez has mastered Brooklyn yet. David, you have seen him and you have said in the article that he needs improvement with his strike zone discipline. Hopefully he will break in slowly to the majors in 2025 at CF. And then 2026 the 33 yoa Nimmo will slide in to LF and the 23 yoa Ramirez will man CF as a starter.