By one metric, Ramos and Lobaton a formidable tandem behind the plate

Not so long ago, general managers putting together their rosters didn't fret much over catchers. You had your starter, who hopefully could hit a little and was at least passable defensively. And you had a backup, whose skill set was the opposite of your starter. If the starting backstop was a good defender, you looked for a backup with a decent bat; if your starting catcher was better with the stick than the glove, you looked for a good catch-and-throw guy who might function as a late-inning defensive replacement. If you were lucky enough to have a starting catcher who boasted both offense and defense, your backup was someone who could play a day or two a week and work well with pitchers.

Boy, how things have changed.

Over the past handful of seasons, more of a premium has been placed on the tools of ignorance. Yes, a bat is nice. But defense can't be ignored, not in an era where every player's strengths and weaknesses are graded by a set of advanced metrics that are increasingly difficult for the layman - or lay fan - to understand.

So what's important for a catcher defensively? A strong arm cuts down the opposition's running game. Good pitch framing has become an art. Blocking balls in the dirt is something that's worked on for long hours in spring training. Baseball smarts can't be overlooked, nor can the intangibles of how a catcher works with pitchers. That comfort level has become more and more important. Hard to imagine it was once an overlooked intangible, but that was in an era when mechanics were viewed as more essential.

Earlier in the week, ESPN stats maven Mark Simon tweeted an interesting chart outlining which major league catchers were the best at avoiding wild pitches and passed balls, those pesky little detractors that can weigh down a backstop's overall effectiveness. There were some interesting names in the top five, some you'd immediately think belonged in a list attached to a defensive-oriented metric, others that were frankly a little surprising. And the Nationals graded out pretty well in this compilation.

Basically, the chart looks at the number of pitches a catcher received with men on base, groups together the number of wild pitches and passed balls that were charged to the battery he was part of in such situations, and comes up with a ranking based on the number of pitches per wild pitch/passed ball linked to each catcher. The higher the number, the better a catcher's performance.

Alex Avila of the Tigers graded out in the top spot, receiving 301.5 pitches per every wild pitch or passed ball (21 and five, respectively). Yadier Molina of the Cardinals was second at 247.1 (21 wild pitches three passed balls) and Nick Hundley of the Orioles placed third (10 wild pitches, four passed balls). The rest of the top five included Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies at 225.8 (26 wild pitches, four passed balls) and Buster Posey of the Giants at 223.8 (21 wild pitches, five passed balls).

Of course, the number of pitches a catcher receives with men on base is the key stat here. Among the top five, that number ranged from 7,235 pitches caught by Avila to the 3,385 received by Hundley. What does this tell us? Well, that Tigers pitchers (particularly the bullpen) put a lot of men on base, and that Hundley's metric benefited from a pitching staff that limited walks and the fact that he shared catching duties with rookie Caleb Joseph once starting catcher Matt Wieters went down with an elbow injury.

Both Nationals catchers - Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton - placed in the top 15 of the 60 catchers' profiles. Lobaton was sixth, receiving 3,348 pitches with men on base, being part of a battery charged with 14 wild pitches and only one passed ball, and grading out at 223.2 pitches per wild pitch or passed ball. Ramos was 14th, receiving 4,628 pitches with runners on base, being part of a battery charged with 19 wild pitches and four passed balls, and grading out at 201.2 pitches per wild pitch or passed ball.

At least in Washington, the shared catching arrangement resulted in a tangible defensive benefit. No one is surprised when Lobaton appears high on the list of any advanced defensive metric; his pitch framing capability was one of the chief reasons general manager Mike Rizzo acquired him from Tampa Bay at the start of spring training. Lobaton quickly meshed with the Nationals staff, and was noted for his work with pitchers Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg. He continued to block balls well - another defensive plus that cuts down on wild pitches and passed balls - and credits his defensive strengths to the mentoring he received from Jose Molina when both played for the Rays.

I was more surprised by Ramos' placement on Simon's list, but it shows that Ramos has continued to put in the work necessary to be more than a passable glove behind the plate, even though his offense is often what draws the most attention. Because the Nationals have three former major league catchers - bench coach Randy Knorr, third base coach Bobby Henley and bullpen coach Matt LeCroy - on their staff, there is no shortage of expertise. But Ramos has improved his flexibility and done much better at blocking balls in the dirt. That may sound like an easy task, but it's not as simple as it sounds to have your head on a swivel, lug around a catcher's equipment for three hours and still be mobile.

No other set of teammates appears in the top 15 catchers ranked, and only two other pairs of teammates - Brayan Pena (10th, 210.5) and Devin Mesoraco (16th, 188.4) of the Reds and Roberto Perez (13th, 203.6) and Yan Gomes (20th, 175.6) of the Indians - are among the top 20 by this measure. The Indians' tandem received more pitches with runners on base (9,178) than the pairs from the Reds (8,323) and Nats (7,976). So maybe a more even split of playing time has an additional benefit other than keeping both catchers fresh.

Ramos is 27 and won't be a free agent until after the 2016 season, while Lobaton is 30 and is under team control through 2017. Seems like Nationals pitchers are in good hands for another couple of years.