Extra rest will benefit Wilson Ramos as Nats embark on stretch drive

Catcher Wilson Ramos takes a lot of punishment behind the plate but has still been able to play solid defense and hit well this season.

On Friday night, Ramos was dinged up a couple of times, falling over on his hands an knees after 90-95 mph pitches glanced off his body and feet. He doubled over in pain and was attended to by trainer Paul Lessard and manager Dusty Baker, but would not come out. This has happened on more than a few occasions this season where Ramos gets hit by a pitch, fights through the pain, and stays in the game.

Baker said Saturday he asked Ramos if he wanted to come out of the game. Ramos refused. And the skipper knew he was short-handed Friday because Pedro Severino was under the weather and was not available.

"I was kind of at a disadvantage the last couple of days because (Pedro) Severino was sick," Baker said Saturday during pregame. "I try to take Wilson out but (he says) 'No, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.' I wasn't going to massage the area he got hit in especially out there in front of everybody. He had a rough night, offensively and defensively.

"That comes with the territory as catcher. Very few want to catch. I always thought the catchers kind of like having some of that pain some time. If that was me I would've taken off my equipment right then and said I'm a first baseman or an outfielder or something. Most kids do not want to catch."

Despite all the abuse Ramos takes, he still is hitting too, batting .302 with 20 homers and 73 RBIs. His teammate, Jose Lobaton, has also been able to get in a better groove at the plate, especially since his recovery from elbow tendinitis.

"That was affecting him some," Baker said. "It was affecting his swing because he couldn't really get extended. Loby's learning and he's getting better and he pays attention. I've seen a lot of catchers come in as defensive catchers and then learn as they go through on how to add offense to their game."

In his last seven games, Lobaton is batting .316. In his last 15 games, Lobaton is hitting .268. His career average is .224. Baker believes Lobaton might be learning to add offense to a game that was primarily here because of his exceptional defense. Baker remembers a well known backstop who came into the league because of his defense and has become an offensive threat.

"One of the guys that comes to mind is (Cardinals catcher) Yadier Molina," Baker said. "He came in as a straight defensive catcher and then he got better and better and better. Loby is preserved. It's not like he's caught a whole bunch of innings. I see Loby as getting better as a hitter. I can tell by his actions and how he talks about. He kind of kids me during the game. He will tell someone to use your legs and use your hands or something. Everybody looks at me because these are some of my quotes."

But one thing that Baker should look to do in the final 19 regular season games is to give Ramos more rest than he had during the first 140 games of the season. With Severino healthy again and Lobaton contributing, they could take some starts to help Ramos. That extra rest would benefit Ramos as the Nationals hope to put together a long run into October.