Washington Nationals Editorial: Where Does Wilson Ramos Rank Among Catchers in the NL East?
By Matt Weyrich
Wilson Ramos – Washington Nationals
Ramos appeared in 128 games for the Nats in 2015, hitting .229/.258/.358 with 109 hits, 16 doubles, 15 home runs, 41 runs, 68 RBIs, 21 walks, and 101 strikeouts with an OPS+ of 64 over 504 plate appearances.
The common thinking regarding Wilson Ramos was that given a full season, he would be among the best offensive catchers in the league. Well, he got his full season, but the numbers just weren’t there. After playing reasonably well through June, he completely fell apart. His slash line in the month of July? .149/.171/.239. How about September? .180/.200/.303.
Now, this does not mean Ramos was not a key member of the team. He was a Gold Glove finalist and had the best caught stealing percentage (44 percent) in the major leagues. He even caught two no-hitters. However, his ceiling was always much higher, and he simply underperformed in 2015.
This season, Ramos is entering his walk year with one final go at boosting his value before entering free agency for the first time in his career. One final chance to show everyone what he can really do on a baseball field. In order to do that, he will have to show once again that he can stay healthy, hit for the power that he was expected to, and limit the ground balls up the middle.
At full strength, Ramos can be a very dangerous part of the Nationals’ lineup. He is the biggest player on the team, and could be an anchor in the bottom half of the order. Ramos is certainly capable of hitting 20 home runs, hitting .280, and catching throws from the outfield. While he has yet to display those factors thus far, it will be interesting to see if he puts it all together in 2016.
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