Last year Wilson Ramos had a solid season for the Mets after signing a 2 year free agent contact in the winter of 2018. Offensively, he had more RBI than any catcher in the league and many of those key hits came in late inning pressure packed situations.
The problem he had was defensively as base runners ran wildly on the Met pitching staff and according to reports Noah Syndergaard asked for a different catcher in the games that he started. That will not be a problem this year because Syndergaard is on the shelf with Tommy John surgery. But Wilson knows communication is a key between any catcher and a pitching staff.
” It will be very challenging this year”, says Ramos, “because those one on one conversations must be done with social distancing but I know we will be ready. This is a very good roster and one that I know can be successful.”
The bullpen will be a huge factor especially in a truncated season and I know Edwin Diaz will be a pet project for the Mets this year as he looks to rebound from a brutal 2019. In the off-season Diaz, has been working on making the release point in his pitching delivery a huge priority and he will need solid communication with Ramos to achieve that goal.
The other thing Ramos needs to work on is his ability to handle pitchers who use the bottom half of the plate as some hurlers recognized he has trouble handling that low pitch. And both Marcus Stroman and Rick Porcello rely on that part of the strike zone because they are ground ball pitchers who need the confidence to throw a plethora of sinking fastballs,
The other thing Ramos might have to get used to is spending time in the DH role. On days he may rest Ramos from duties behind the plate, I am sure Luis Rojas would rather give him four at bats in the DH role than one pinch hitting appearance. I envision that happening quite a bit although if Yoenis Cespedes is healthy he will likely reside in that DH position on a permanent basis.
As the Mets prepare for the season, Wilson Ramos has plenty to do but in this CoVid world we live in his family will stay in Florida to protect their health. “I will miss them for sure but they are safer there in their surroundings than here in New York”, said Ramos.
Last year the Mets played real well in the second half but Ramos knows the team can not afford a poor start in this 60 game season. And in many ways, he will be a huge factor for this team as he possesses a serious RBI bat which will be counted on to be part of a middle of the lineup that includes Pete Alonzo, Michael Conforto, JD Davis, Yoenis Cespedes and Robinson Cano. When operating on all cylinders it could be a big run producing unit especially if Jeff McNeil is hitting the ball like he did last year.
For Ramos, it is time to get to work and prepare for what could be a historic season for him, He certainly has the tools and drive to accomplish that,