Washington Nationals: Grading Wilson Ramos's 2016 Season
While it might’ve been his last year with the Washington Nationals, Wilson Ramos’ 2016 season was a success
Coming into the 2016 season, the Washington Nationals weren’t sure what they were going to get from Wilson Ramos after a disappointing 2015 season. Ramos’ season did not end well when he tore his ACL and meniscus in his knee in September against the Diamondbacks. However, he still was one of the best hitters in the Washington Nationals lineup this season.
During spring training, Ramos underwent LASIK surgery to help his vision at the plate. This helped him have a career year at the plate. The 29-year-old had a slash line of .307/.354/.496 with 22 home runs and 80 RBI’s He had career highs in home runs and RBI’s and finished ninth in the National League in batting average.
Early in the season, Ramos was one of the best hitters in the National League. He hit over .300 in each of the first three months of the year, including a .364 batting average in the month of June. During the month of June, he had six home runs and drove in 19 runs.
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Ramos’ great first half led him to being selected as a reserve for the National League in the All-Star Game for the first time in his career. After the All-Star Break, Ramos’ numbers dropped as his second half batting average was .279 (.330 in the first half).
If you go by the WAR stat, Ramos was one of the most valuable players on the Washington Nationals this season. According to Baseball Reference, his 3.3 WAR was the third highest of any Washington Nationals hitter that played in over 100 games (Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon had over a four WAR).
In clutch situations, Ramos was one of the go-to players on this offense. This season, the catcher hit .333 with men in scoring position and had 56 RBI’s (fourth on the team). Over the last two seasons, Ramos had 107 RBI’s when runners were in scoring position.
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One of the more painful events from this season was that September 26 night against Arizona. On a play at the plate, Ramos ended up suffering the season-ending injury. Not only did the loss of Ramos hurt the Washington Nationals behind the plate, but it also caused a lack of depth in the lineup.
Speaking of Ramos’ defense, his caught stealing percentage was down from 2015 (44%), but it was still at 37%, which was tied with Buster Posey for the best percentage of any catcher in the National League. Plus, he made only three errors in 128 games.
Wilson Ramos
C, Washington Nationals
Ramos’ 2016 season did not end well and his hopes for making a big contract in free agency this year diminished with his knee injury. With that being said, Ramos had an excellent 2016 season and cemented his case as the best Washington Nationals catcher in the team’s short history.
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