President George W. Bush and Washington Nationals catcher Brian Schneider shake hands after the President threw the ceremonial first pitch Thursday, April 14, 2005. Schneider went 1 for 3 with an RBI. White House photo by Paul Morse [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
No. 2: Brian Schneider
Years before the Nationals acquired Wilson Ramos, the team had another franchise catcher whose roots go back well into the franchise’s Montreal years. His name is Brian Schneider, and he’s the second-best catcher in Nationals history in our ranking.
Schneider spent the first eight years of his career with the Nationals/Expos franchise and had some great years behind the plate for both teams. The Expos originally drafted in the fifth round of the 1995 First-Year Player Draft and he made his big league debut five years later at the age of 23.
When the franchise moved to Washington in 2005, Schneider came with it and caught the first game ever played in DC’s new era of baseball. That year, Schneider hit .268 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs. He also played great defense behind home plate, throwing out a major league-best 38 percent of would-be base stealers.
While he never had another year quite as dominant as 2005, he’s still the longest-tenured catcher in Nationals history (by games played) and put up solid numbers in three seasons with the team. As a National, Schneider hit .253 with 20 home runs, 101 runs and 153 RBIs over 369 games.
In November of 2007, the Nationals traded Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church to the Mets in exchange for then-top prospect Lastings Milledge. Schneider retired as a member of the Phillies following the 2012 season.
Next: Number 1