The Marlins will promote top catching prospect Joe Mack prior to tomorrow’s game with the Phillies, SportsGrid’s Craig Mish reports. Agustin Ramirez will be optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and Mack is already on Miami’s 40-man roster.
Mack was the 31st overall pick of the 2021 draft, and after steadily working his way up the Marlins’ minor league ladder, the 23-year-old is now on the cusp of his Major League debut. Baseball America ranks Mack as the 50th-best prospect in the sport, and pundits like The Athletic’s Keith Law (52nd), MLB Pipeline (54th) and ESPN.com (61st) also have Mack listed within their top-100 rankings.
The consensus is that Mack is ready for the big leagues on defense alone, as he has received praise for his framing, blocking, and strong throwing arm. There have been fewer questions about his ability to hit since Mack bounced back from a poor 2023 season to post much better numbers across the last three minor league campaigns, and he has hit .249/.334/.444 with 21 home runs over 515 plate appearances with Triple-A Jacksonville.
Mack’s approach is a little all-or-nothing since he is primarily looking to pull the ball in the air, but even if this leads to his share of strikeouts, Mack has enough power to capitalize when he does make contact. Over 103 PA in Jacksonville this season, Mack’s walk rate has shot up to 19.4% (from 8.5% in 412 Triple-A PA in 2025) and he has reduced his strikeout rate from 27.9% to 21.4%.
It was seen as just a matter of time before Mack got the call to the Show, even if the Marlins opted against including Mack on their Opening Day roster. Miami continued with the catching tandem of Ramirez and Liam Hicks, and Hicks has broken out to hit .309/.366/.557 with seven homers over 112 PA while splitting time between catcher, first base, and DH.
Ramirez, however, is hitting .230/.318/.345 with two home runs over 129 PA, making him the odd man out of the catching picture. Ramirez went yard 21 times in 2025 while batting .231/.287/.413 in 585 PA, but his dropoff in power has taken away his most potent offensive weapon. Since Ramirez is also arguably the worst defensive catcher in baseball, there wasn’t much of a case to continue giving him at-bats while Mack was ready to go at Triple-A, as MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald argued earlier this week.
Since Hicks is also nothing special in terms of glovework, putting Mack behind the plate should have an immediate impact on the Marlins from a defensive standpoint. While obviously the hope is that Mack can adjust quickly as a big league hitter, producing even average offense in his first looks at MLB pitching would be a bonus along with the ripple effect that Mack’s defense brings to Miami’s run-prevention efforts.
Because Mack is only coming up to the majors now, the Marlins wouldn’t earn a bonus draft pick via the Prospect Promotion Incentive if he finishes in the top two in NL Rookie of the Year voting (or has a top-three MVP finish before he is eligible for arbitration). However, Mack himself would earn a full year of big league service time if he does manage a top-two ROY finish, and he is currently on pace to achieve Super Two status and an extra year of salary arbitration eligibility if he remains on Miami’s active roster.
