Nationals rookie Wilson Ramos is in rarefied air among young catchers

Sep 22, 2011, 11:51 AM EDT

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Wilson Ramos went 3-for-3 with a homer last night and is now hitting .267 with a .331 on-base percentage and .443 slugging percentage in 109 games for the Nationals.

Those certainly aren’t jaw-dropping raw numbers, but Ramos’ production adds up to an adjusted OPS+ of 112 and that’s damn impressive for a 23-year-old rookie catcher.

In fact, during the past 25 years here’s the complete list of every 23-year-old catcher to post an OPS+ above 100 in 400 or more plate appearances:

                  YEAR      PA     OPS+
Joe Mauer         2006     608     144
Buster Posey      2010     443     129
Jason Kendall     1997     572     114
Craig Biggio      1989     509     114
WILSON RAMOS      2011     420     112
Russell Martin    2006     468     101

That’s it. That’s the whole list. Oh, and Ramos has also thrown out 34 percent of steal attempts.

I think I speak for my fellow Twins fans when I say: Sigh.

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13 Comments (Feed for Comments)

frenchysplatediscipline - Sep 22, 2011 at 11:57 AM

Just another reason to believe that the Phils and Braves wont be the only NL East teams fighting for a playoff spot in years to come…

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Jeremiah Graves - Sep 22, 2011 at 12:15 PM

I feel like “*SIGH*” doesn’t quite encapsulate my emotion, but between the Ramos deal and the Hardy trade, it’s like Bill Smith went out of his way to try and lose his job. It makes my soul hurt.

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- gogigantos - Sep 22, 2011 at 12:52 PM
  
  why not the J. Hardy guy Sabes?
  well, he just isn’t vet or stone handed enough
  *(&^^(((&***^&*(&^&*^*&(^*&(^*&(^(&*^
  
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- docktorellis - Sep 22, 2011 at 7:35 PM
  
  I hated this trade when it happened and I hate it more every day. Bill Smith, please go away now.
  
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proudlycanadian - Sep 22, 2011 at 12:19 PM

My condolences Aaron.

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gogigantos - Sep 22, 2011 at 12:51 PM

oh Mr. Buster
what should be a champagne soaked day in a season of defense and looking forward to taking on the fates in Philly,,,,
championships of the future are just that
this season was not to be
rehab exercise and return to the glory that is your destiny
all Giant fans wish you well and not so patiently wait for your glorious return
what was and should have been, will be again

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wlschneider09 - Sep 22, 2011 at 12:51 PM

Strangely, “sigh” wasn’t the first four letter word that came to my mind.

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bigleagues - Sep 22, 2011 at 12:53 PM

I’ve been on the Ramos bandwagon for a couple of years now . . . but recently I was thinking about who the most under-appreciated Catcher in baseball is. And after playing around with the Baseball-Reference Play Index – the answer is Brian McCann.

Since 1901, only 4 Catchers can claim the following through their 1st 7 seasons.

- OPS+ of .120 or better
- ISO of .200 or better
- RC of 500 or better
- WAR of at least 20

And only McCann and Bench have those numbers through Age 27.

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- frenchysplatediscipline - Sep 22, 2011 at 1:35 PM
  
  Funny. I watched the Fox broadcast of the Braves and Mets when Hudson threw his gem Saturday and Eric Karros was talking about how McCann was not an elite catcher and was overrated because the has never had a breakout season.
  
  Then it became apparent to me why Karros is relegated to the last tier of broadcasters for Fox Saturday baseball.
  
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  - bigleagues - Sep 22, 2011 at 2:33 PM
    
    Interesting comment by Karros . . . because after all, there’s no shortage of Catchers who have averaged more than: 130 Games .280, 20 HR, 80 RBI over the last 6 years is there?!
    
    I spent more time writing this post than Karros spends researching before a broadcast. Sadly that’s typical of many, if not most, former players who sit in the booth.
bigleagues - Sep 22, 2011 at 1:15 PM
I Forgot to include this:
```
                                                                                                                 
Rk           Player   G OPS+  ISO WAR/pos  RC   Age   PA   AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS
1      Johnny Bench 934  128 .211    34.5 546 19-25 3879 3444 504  922 159 15 179 616 371 553 .268 .336 .479 .814
2      Brian McCann 877  122 .201    20.7 527 21-27 3445 3048 377  873 198  2 136 535 331 483 .286 .359 .487 .845
3    Roy Campanella 865  128 .232    28.9 567 26-32 3453 3041 476  854 143 16 177 614 377 349 .281 .364 .513 .877
4       Mike Piazza 840  160 .242    38.9 697 23-29 3482 3119 511 1038 148  4 200 644 330 493 .333 .396 .575 .972
```
Provided by http://www.baseball-reference.com
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natstowngreg - Sep 22, 2011 at 1:58 PM

Again, to the Twins, thank you.

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sportsdrenched.com - Sep 22, 2011 at 4:20 PM

Only 360 more PA till Salvador Perez joins him.

(keep cussing Twins fans)

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