Now it could just be a quirk of the schedule. In the past 5 days the Nats have only played double headers and it's common for catchers not to start back-to-back double header games. But then there is this nugget from Bill Ladson's mailbag:
I thought Ramos would be the everyday guy by now, but manager Jim Riggleman said Ramos will start against left-handers and Rodriguez will face right-handers. (Ed. - bolding ming). We'll see how long it lasts.If you look at the past two weeks this is exactly what is happening. Ramos has started against every lefty starter, Pudge against every righty, with the exception of one of the Brewer double-header games where Milwuakee started two righties. So assuming Bill didn't make this up or misinterpret Riggleman early in the season (possible but then so did Kill-Gore, and Zuckerman, etc. etc.), in no more than 10 days Riggleman went from transitioning Ramos to a #1 role to stating Pudge will start roughly 70% of games. What spurned the turnaround?
I'm not exactly sure but the easiest answer is performance. In the last week Pudge is hitting .286 and Wilson .182. For a manager that already favors the vets, those numbers might have been too tempting to keep skipping over Pudge. Riggleman may play this off as trying to give Ramos a better chance to grow in the majors (he does hit lefties better), and note the fact that even facing lefty starters he faces a number of righty relievers, but if Wilson is ever going to be a starter he is going to have to face right handed pitching all the time.
Another thing to consider is that Riggleman just played everyone. There is no evidence that he started to play Ramos more two weeks ago when Ramos was still hitting better than Pudge. Perhaps Jim just fed the guys in the media what they wanted to hear. If that's the case well, I'd be pissed. It's one thing to skirt around the issue, but another to lead the guys reporting on the team to a conclusion that just isn't true. I read his comments from the 8th and I hear the same thing everyone else did. Ramos was not going to be #2 catcher. Based on his righty lefty starter split though that is exactly what Ramos is.
Wilson Ramos may very well be the starter for the future. Pudge will not be. The Nats need to know if he can be sooner rather than later. Riggleman appears to be actively working against finding this out.
13 comments:
Or Riggleman is riding Pudge's suddenly hot bat for a little while. It'll cool off and Ramos will get his playing time.
I noted that was a possibility, but what if he's decent and ramos struggles through May? It's one thing if the Nats only were focused on Ramos, but Flores and Norris could also be catchers of the future and there aren't enough major league at bats to let Pudge strain toward 3000 and get a fair look at all 3 leading into the years where you hope to be involved in playoff pushes.
I think Riggs is just riding the hot hand right now. Shrek IS the cather of the future and will get his work in the year. Very interesting however.
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Between this and Dez moving to 7th but no he's not, it's tough take anything Riggs says seriously about his players. While Espi to lead off was the right move, the Ramos platoon isn't a great move.
But there's plenty of time to move Ramos into 2/3 starts in the next 2 months. If it's 50/50 in June...
BTW, in game 12 today, Pudge is starting make it 6 vs 6.
nats man - that's the only argument you can accept but riddle me this : Would you rather have a year of Pudge hitting .280 or Ramos hitting .260. Even forgetting about OBP and SLG differences, I'd rather let Ramos take those swings and sacrifice a game or two.
Hoo - "plenty of time" just keep on telling yourself that. To be fair it's Kyle Lohse today. He eats righthanders for breakfast. It's pretty much Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, Kyle Lohse in the right handed starter pantheon.
You win. Pudge just grounded into another double play. He'll be the all time hit into double play leader long before he gets 3000 hits.
"'s pretty much Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, Kyle Lohse in the right handed starter pantheon.'
I'd say jinxed the Nats but their hitting can make any pitcher look like the former two on any given day.
Being catcher is really hard on the body and this is the first full season in the majors for Ramos. Given that Pudge will be dealt at the trading deadline, you load Pudge up a bit more and Ramos will be fresher for the 2nd half.
I think it's just a touch early for this criticism. It's still possible that both things are essentially true (but incomplete in themselves). By this I mean, Riggs may be intending to give Ramos more than half of the starts, but that will include starting him against all lefties and some righties, and starting Pudge against some tough righties.
Also, while I'd love to trade Pudge at the deadline, we have to be realistic about the possibility that there's not a sucker out there that will fall into the "veteran catching!" bucket. I loved Pudge's career, but he's awfully close to a replacement level player right now. I wouldn't count on being able to unload him. I still think his career ends kind of sadly this offseason, with no one calling him.
Pudge is below replacement player. Or at the very least he's below the Wil Nieves line, which is pretty much definitive replacement level player.
This is the true horror of the 2 year contract. That Pudge really is eating up Abs that should go to Ramos. A cheaper, better Nats team would have been a Ramos/Nieves split with Ramos 2/3 or more games
Nattydread - I thought that was a joke but then looked it up.
Hoo - are you sure it wasn't my powers? Who do you think keeps Lannan in the league?
Anon - That's fine if i's the case but that's not what he's saying. Even then I'd like a 3 out of 5 pace, as opposed to the every other day. I want Ramos to be the clear #1
Sec 220 - We'll see. And to say one nice thing about Pudge, while offensively he is terrible, by all indications he's still on eof the best catchers in the league defensively. That matters.
I also think he plays two more years with someone picking him up as a true mentoring backup next year and the Rangers brining him back for a halfseason so he can squeak by 3000 (he should be at 2900 after this year, maybe around 2960 or so next year in my projection)
Hoo - there isn't enough offensive difference between Nieves and Pudge to take Nieves. Of course you still want Nieves because the manager won't feel compelled to play him
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