Phillies Snag All-Star Catcher Wilson Ramos From The Rays
CBSSports – Ramos, 30, is reaching the end of a two-year contract with the Rays, where he signed after spending his early career with the Washington Nationals. He’s batting .297/.346/.488 for the Rays, but he hasn’t played since just before the All-Star break, when he went down with a left hamstring strain. The Phillies have just a half game lead in the National League East (five days ago it was 2.5), and they’re in desperate need of help both offensively and defensively. One of the team’s biggest weaknesses is at catcher. Their primary catcher is 25-year-old rookie Jorge Alfaro, who has a cannon for an arm but has struggled significantly with defense. He has a .254 batting average, but his on-base percentage is just .305 and he has 104 strikeouts in 275 plate appearances. Andrew Knapp is their back-up catcher, and he has some of the same problems Alfaro does: youth, inexperience, defense, and hitting.
Vamos de Ramos! .297 with 14 dingers and a .834 OPS definitely adds a nice little bat to this lineup. Not to mention he’s a defensive upgrade from Alfaro. In fact, they may wanna throw Jorge in the pen so his absolute howitzer of an atomic cannon doesn’t go to waste on the bench. Also, watching Knapp struggle last night off the bench going 0-3 with two K’s while not gunning out the game winning run stealing second wasn’t too delightful. Love me some Ramos. However, there is one very important matter to note: Ramos is coming off the DL and won’t be able available for a bit. Cute.
He was scheduled to start a rehab assignment on Monday, but a workout on Saturday convinced Rays general manager Kevin Cash that Ramos wasn’t ready yet. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that Ramos would “need at least a couple more days” before he heads out on a rehab assignment. Beyond that, there didn’t appear to be a set timeline for Ramos’ return. The Phillies will presumably make their own determination about his readiness once he arrives.
Still though, landing a veteran all-star like Ramos without giving up much is a great move to make for the Phillies down the homestretch. It’s just AWESOME to finally have the Phillies buyers once again at the deadline. Hot stove me, baby. Hot stove me, hard.