Lucas Ramirez Homered Twice vs. Team USA—Here’s Why His Dad, Manny Ramirez, Taught Him to Bat Left-Handed

Manny Ramirez’s son also wears No. 24—but bats from the left side. Here’s why.

Lucas Ramirez hit solo shots in the first and eighth innings on Friday night in the World Baseball Classic. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The world was introduced to Lucas Ramirez on Friday night.

During Team USA’s 15–5 win over Brazil at Daikin Park, Ramirez almost singlehandedly kept Brazil in the game with a pair of solo homers. The 20-year-old Ramirez, batting leadoff for Brazil, clobbered a 392-foot blast off Logan Webb in the first inning and sent another out in the eighth off U.S. reliever Gabe Speier.

If a slugger named Ramirez wearing No. 24 seems a bit familiar to you, it should. Lucas is the son of 12-time MLB All-Star Manny Ramirez, who wore No. 24 for the majority of his career that was highlighted by two World Series titles with the Red Sox.

Lucas Ramirez homers AGAIN for Team Brazil!

Proud dad moment for Manny ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/bdJjLCYSCw

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 7, 2026

The biggest difference between Lucas and his father? Lucas Ramirez bats left-handed, while Manny pummeled 555 career homers over 19 seasons in the big leagues from the right side of the dish.

Why Manny Ramirez taught his son, Lucas Ramirez, to bat left-handed

Manny Ramirez was in attendance at Daikin Park in Houston on Friday night and witnessed his son’s two homers against Team USA.

After Lucas’s first homer, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi caught up with Manny and asked him why Lucas bats left-handed. His answer? Manny always wanted to bat left-handed himself, so he taught his son to do so—of course using many videos of former Red Sox teammate David Ortiz to drive his points home.

Manny Ramírez is in Houston tonight. After Lucas hit his home run, I asked Manny about his son batting left-handed. Manny said he always wanted to bat lefty himself, so he encouraged his son to do it.

Manny also showed Lucas a lot of @davidortiz videos.@MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 7, 2026

“He just made me a lefty when I was little and I just stuck to it,” Lucas Ramirez told MLB.com. “He was my hitting coach my whole life. I didn’t go to anybody else. I just trusted him. I tried to implement some of the stuff he did when he played, just from the left side. Nothing different.”

See, kids? Always listen to your parents’ advice when it comes to hitting. Even if your dad didn’t hit 555 homers in the big leagues.

Why Lucas Ramirez is playing for Brazil

Manny Ramirez was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Lucas hails from Florida and attended high school in Plantation, Fla. But Lucas’s mom, Juliana, was raised in Brazil—so Ramirez got the call to represent his mother’s home country.

“It means a lot,” Ramirez said of playing for Brazil [via MLB.com]. “I get to showcase my abilities for Team Brazil and represent her. I’m not only representing Brazil in baseball. I’m representing the whole country and showing love to the culture.”

Ramirez went 5-for-13 in the 2025 WBC qualifiers that punched Brazil’s ticket to the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He went 2-for-4 with two homers against Team USA on Friday night.

Where does Lucas Ramirez play in the minor leagues?

When he’s not mashing homers for Brazil, Lucas Ramirez is a minor leaguer in the Angels’ organization. A 17th-round pick in the 2024 MLB draft out of American Heritage High School in Florida, Ramirez worked his way up to the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils last season.

Ramirez batted .282/.374/.454 with three homers and 28 RBIs in 49 games for the ACL Angels in rookie ball last summer before getting promoted to High-A in August. He struggled a bit at High-A, batting .172 with 14 strikeouts in 11 games, but Ramirez will likely be back at that level soon after the WBC concludes.

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