Atlanta Braves vs. NL East position by position 2020 Preview: Catcher

Mets: Wilson Ramos, Tomas Nido, Rene Rivera

Back in 2016, Wilson Ramos was considered one of the best catchers in all of baseball putting up a 3.6 WAR season with the Washington Nationals after hitting .307 with 22 home runs in 131 games.

Injuries derailed his 2017 season and pushed back the start of his 2018 season, but he was still really good offensively when on the field those seasons.

This past season with the Mets he was ridden hard playing in 141 games, and the offensive wasn’t spectacular — or at least not to the level of his 2016 season.

He hit .288/.351/.416 with 14 home runs in 524 plate appearances — the most plate appearances in a single season in his now 10-year career.

The only real knock on Ramos throughout his career has been his defense. FanGraphs ranked him as the 23rd ‘best’ defensive catcher last year among catchers who played in at least 85 games.

He was also near the bottom in FanGraphs’s frame rating at -7.6. And among the 37 catchers who caught at least 500 innings last year, he ranked 31st in DRS with -11.

Certainly, with Ramos, you’re hoping the offense covers up the defense. But with how bad he’s been defensively, he’ll really need to pick his offense up and be a 20 home run hitter again.

Tomas Nido is their defensive-minded catcher, but he’s a mess offensively. He hit just .144 in 50 games last year with the Mets and added 4 home runs.

They brought in Rene Rivera as a non-roster invitee, and if I had to guess, he gets a lot of time in New York in 2020. Rivera is a veteran who can give you a little offense and a little defense but isn’t great at either.