Nats positional preview: Catcher

With just about two weeks remaining until pitchers and catchers report, we begin our daily position-by-position breakdown of the Nationals. We lead off with catcher.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has assembled one of best starting pitching rotations in the past few decades. The staff possesses a unique array of pitches and personalities. Manager Matt Williams and pitching coach Steve McCatty will mostly rely on Wilson Ramos to handle each of them behind the plate throughout the season.

The 27-year-old Ramos is entering his sixth season with the Nats. In 2014, he slashed .267/.299/.399 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs in 88 games. Like most of the others in the Nats lineup, Ramos struggled in the National League Division Series only going 2-for-17 in the four games versus the Giants. For his career, "The Buffalo" is a .269/.317/.432 hitter. His season-high for home runs was 16 in 2013.

Defensively, Ramos was solid last season. He threw out 18 of 48 baserunners (38 percent) and committed five errors. The Nationals pitching staff finished the season with a league best 3.03 ERA. The highlight of the season for Ramos came in the regular season finale when he was behind the plate, calling all 104 pitches of Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter.

Rizzo shocked most of the baseball world when he signed Max Scherzer to be part of what was already the National League's toughest rotation. The move vaulted the Nats into World Series favorites. Many have searched for questions or issues with this 2015 season. One obvious unknown is the health of the roster throughout the 162-game marathon that's expected to last into late October. Ramos was one of several Nats who missed significant time in 2014 with injuries. A broken bone in his left hand on opening day, followed by nagging hamstring problems, caused Ramos to play in only 88 games. A knee surgery in 2012 and more hamstring issues in 2013 limited him to just 103 games over those two seasons. His season-high for games played came in 2011 when he appeared in 113 games. Ramos did show impressive durability in the NLDS, where he caught every inning of the four-game series, including the heartbreaking loss in Game 2, which took 6 hours, 23 minutes to complete 18 innings.

If he can remain healthy, Ramos figures to be a crucial figure in the Nats' success in 2015. Each night, he'll have the best seat in the house for some of the game's most dominating pitchers.

Jose Lobaton, acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay just as spring training began last February, will be the Nats' second catcher going into the season. In 2014, Lobaton was a steadying force behind the plate for Nationals pitchers. Just ask Doug Fister. Eleven of Fister's 16 wins came with Lobaton as his battery mate. Overall, the Nats were 38-20 in games that Lobaton caught. The 30-year-old's numbers at the plate, .234/.303/.340 with two home runs and 12 RBIs, were comparable to his last three seasons.

Look for Sandy Leon or Dan Butler to make appearances in Nationals Park should Ramos continue to deal with injuries in 2015. Leon, 25, has seen limited time with the Nats over the past three seasons. He did impress by throwing out five of eight (63 percent) attempted base stealers in 2014. Butler, 28, was acquired in a trade with the Red Sox on Jan. 14. Butler, an undrafted free agent, made his major league debut last August. He is known for his defensive skills, but went 4-for-19 in his limited plate appearances at the end of the season.

All are set to report to Viera, Fla., in just 15 days.