As professional athletes experience abnormal daily schedules that include idleness and boredom, more and more players are heading out to their backyards, driveways or empty garages to post quarantine workouts on their social media handles.
Wilson Ramos was the newest member of the quarantine workout club. Late Wednesday night, the Mets catcher posted a 38-second video of himself, decked out from head to toe in protective gear. Ramos, crouched and wearing a catcher’s helmet, methodically caught 12 balls and deposited them into a small pile beside him.
Clearly, Ramos was working on his framing behind the plate. But an inspection into the catcher’s stance provided a clue to his new and developing approach.
In the video, Ramos set up with his knee on the ground. It’s a technique he recently added to his stance in order to create a lower target and better chemistry for his pitching staff. Mainly, Ramos had Noah Syndergaard in mind when he made the change.
Last season, Syndergaard in particular had a tough time throwing to Ramos. The right-hander recorded a 5.20 ERA over 16 starts and 97 innings when throwing to Ramos. Syndergaard felt he pitched better with backup catcher Tomas Nido or veteran catcher Rene Rivera behind the plate, and the results showed. He posted a 2.88 ERA across 12 starts and 78 innings when throwing to Nido. In the two starts Syndergaard pitched to Rivera, he recorded a 2.84 ERA over 12.2 innings.
Ramos, intent to minimize such discrepancies, made it a priority in spring training to become more familiar with his pitchers, both new and old. After a few workouts with his knee on the ground, Ramos received a positive review from Syndergaard following their first battery of spring.
“Small sample size, just two innings. But him and I were on the same page,” Syndergaard said in February. “Just the rhythm and the tempo that we had was really something to build off. It was encouraging. He’s receiving the ball great. I’m definitely pleased with it.”
The developing chemistry of the Syndergaard-Ramos battery is a bit of a moot point now that the righty flamethrower will miss whatever MLB is able to salvage of the 2020 season. Syndergaard underwent Tommy John surgery on his torn right UCL last month and won’t pitch again until, at the earliest, April 2021. Ramos becomes a free agent at the end of the year, even if the coronavirus pandemic wipes out the entire 2020 season.
Later in spring, Ramos said his new stance — in addition to providing a lower target for pitchers — helps him rest his legs so they don’t have to work as hard through the grind of a long baseball season. Even though Syndergaard will be absent from the Mets rotation, Ramos’ quarantine workout video indicates the catcher will continue setting up with a rested knee for his own benefit.
Ramos posted a picture, alongside the framing video, that altogether encapsulated his impatience for the baseball season to begin. He sat on an outdoor patio couch, still outfitted in his protective gear, with a simple caption all baseball enthusiasts can relate to right now.
“Waiting for the call,” he wrote.
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