Nats need more offense from Wilson Ramos in 2016

As he prepares to enter an important contract year with the Nationals, catcher Wilson Ramos is spending the winter with his family in his home country of Venezuela. He's coming off his most durable season, which included catching both of Max Scherzer's no-hitters. Ramos was also Jordan Zimmermann's batterymate for the right-hander's 2014 season-ending no-hitter, making him the first ever to catch three no-nos in a 162-game span.

It helped gain Ramos recognition as one of the three finalists for a Gold Glove Award before the Cardinals' Yadier Molina was named the National League's best defensive catcher.

"That made me feel very happy," Ramos said about the honor of being a finalist for the first time in his six-year career. "All my family and friends and a lot of people in my country was very happy with that. Everybody told me all the numbers I had were good to get that award, but I don't know what happened. All my numbers were really good."

A torn right ACL, broken left hand and numerous hamstring issues limited Ramos to only 191 games from 2012-2014. So the 28-year-old spent most of last winter working on his legs and endurance while setting a personal goal of being behind the plate for 120 games in 2015. The only other season he caught more than 100 games was 2011, when he reached 113.

So during a year surrounded by injuries in the Nationals clubhouse, Ramos maintained his health and attained his mark, catching in a career-high 125 games and appearing in 128 overall.

"This offseason, I'm working like three times more harder than last year," Ramos said. "Right now, I'm concentrating on working on all my body and just working out really hard. I learned from last season because to play 128 games, that was the first time in my career. I get tired at some points, but I'm trying to do the same and stay healthy for next season."

But with a career high in games played came career lows in batting average (.229) on-base percentage (.258) and slugging percentage (.358). He struck out the most in his career - 101 times in 501 plate appearances - and grounded into 16 double plays. Ramos did end up with 68 RBIs, second-best among NL catchers behind San Francisco's Buster Posey. While pleased with his performance behind the dish, he was obviously "not happy" with his performance at the plate.

"I'd like to help my team with my bat, too," Ramos said. "So this offseason I'm working hard with that. Trying to get a better approach. Trying to concentrate more and put the ball in play. This year, I get a lot of strikeouts, so that not help me. Hopefully, next season will be better."