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Washington Nationals Player of the Week: Wilson Ramos

By Pablo Roa

Jun 22, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos (40) celebrates after hitting a solo home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis (17) reacts in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 22, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos (40) celebrates after hitting a solo home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis (17) reacts in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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As one of the few bright spots of a forgettable week for the Washington Nationals, Wilson Ramos earns our weekly Nats Player of the Week honors.

The last week of baseball was disastrous, to say the least, for the Washington Nationals. The team went on a seven-game losing streak and saw their lead in the NL East dwindle to just three games.

And although they managed to salvage a win in yesterday’s series finale against the Brewers, it was a lost week and a lost road trip for a team that now faces a pivotal series against the Mets.

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With that in mind, it was hard to find anyone on the team worthy of being the Nats’ Player of the Week. After all, when a team goes 1-6 and endures its worst losing streak of the year, it’s hard to find one player who stood out as a bright spot in an otherwise dark stretch of the season.

But last week, there was one player who stood out from the crowd: catcher Wilson Ramos.

Ramos has been one of the team’s most valuable players all season long, and he’s suddenly developed into one of the best-hitting catchers the game has seen in recent years. Last week Ramos continued his 2016 dominance at the plate, and for that reason he earns our Nationals Player of the Week honors.

The Buffalo batted .367 with a homer and three RBIs over his last seven games, raising his batting average on the season to .342 — which is second only to Daniel Murphy in all of baseball.

Ramos has excelled at the plate all season long, launching 12 home runs and recording 41 RBIs. He’s just four homers and 27 RBIs shy of matching his career highs in those categories, and it’s not even July yet.

Of course, Ramos’ offensive prowess didn’t do much to help the Nationals snap out of their funk last week. The team still played poorly against teams it should’ve beaten, and Ramos didn’t even play in the one game the Nationals won (his replacement, Jose Lobaton, hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning).

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But Ramos was still a key part of the offense last week, and more importantly, he continues to show that his hot hitting isn’t just an early-season fluke. There’s still a lot of baseball to play, but if he can stay healthy, Ramos is well on his way to having the best season of his career right before he hits free agency.

And last week, he was undoubtedly the Nationals’ best player.

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