I don't know much about Harold Ramirez. But he doesn't sound any worse than what we have. RH bat. Can play RF.
Those highlights don't reflect who he is. He's an extreme ground ball hitter. He kind of reminds me of Yandy Diaz, only shorter. Muscular right-handed hitter who likes to go to right field (based on the highlight video) and hits a ton of ground balls.
Definitely an unusual guy. He reminds me of Kirby Puckett at 5'10", 232 pounds, but he's still in the 92nd percentile in sprint speed. Physically this guy is Nick Chubb. If his baseball career doesn't work out he can always play running back in the NFL. Catchers should give thanks they're no longer expected to block the plate anymore.
LetsGoTribe had this:
Over at our Marlins sister site Fish Stripes, it was pointed out that Ramirez’s approach seemed to be improving towards the end of 2019 when he was getting the ball in the air more and giving himself a chance with his legs.
From the aforementioned Fish site:
Ramirez made an exciting adjustment toward the end of his 2019 rookie campaign, putting the ball in the air consistently (his ground ball rate had been hovering around 60% for most of the year).
His 2020 season was wiped out by a hamstring injury plus being out for weeks with a positive COVID test. He only had 11 at-bats. In 2019 he hit .276/.728 in 446 PA's with 11 HR's and 50 RBI's. Those are not great numbers for a defensively challenged outfielder, but he was only 24 years old.
Ramirez has struggled in the past with his route running and communication. Even more obvious to the casual viewer, he has a lousy arm. It’s been more than two years since he last earned a legitimate outfield assist... Despite a knack for delivering in the clutch and an aesthetically pleasing all-fields approach, he hasn’t quite reached that threshold as a big leaguer yet (career 92 wRC+). He’ll need to elevate the ball more often to increase the likelihood of extra-base hits.
He sounds like a DH to me, but we already have a DH unless they want to move Reyes to right field.
His big problem in 2019 was his fly ball percentage was only 15.7% as opposed to a 57.4% ground ball percentage. Yandy Diaz's career numbers are 13.2% and 55.6%, so this guy is a Yandy Diaz clone, expect that he's an outfielder. Supposedly he's been working on elevating more balls and having some success, so my guess is that he'll go to Columbus and keep working on that. It's ridiculous for a 232-pound RHH to hit 60% ground balls, no matter how fast he is.
I see Ramirez as this year's Diego Santana; he's done some things in the past that indicate he has a chance to be a productive right-handed bat, but was let go because he had a lost season due to injury combined with his former team adding some players at his position they like better. Santana didn't work out and Harold may not, either, but he's only 26 and hit .276 over nearly 450 PA's and sprays the ball all over the field with the speed to take the extra base. The video shows more home runs to center and right than left, reminding me of Franmil Reyes (who also hits too many ground balls at 47%).
If this kid can continue to improve his launch angle I think he's got a chance to help us, depending on how guys like Naylor, Luplow, and Johnson come along. The Indians have put together a group of outfielders in their early to mid-20's who have a chance to develop into good players; Naylor, Luplow, Johnson, Harold Ramirez, and Oscar Mercado. It's a pretty athletic group that has speed and power. Apparently they're moving Nolan Jones to the outfield as well. It will be interesting to see who gets the first opportunities and which ones (if any) emerge as solid major league contributors or possibly stars.