Phillies' Ruiz: Right man behind the plate
The compliments for the catcher have been coming for quite a while now. The pitchers love throwing to Carlos Ruiz, and the coaching staff loves the way he runs a game.
The compliments for the catcher have been coming for quite a while now.
The pitchers love throwing to Carlos Ruiz, and the coaching staff loves the way he runs a game.
Ruiz, entering his fifth season as the Phillies' No. 1 catcher, was considered the team MVP by many of his peers in 2010. He set a career high and led the team with a .302 batting average.
Of course, he also caught a perfect game by Roy Halladay during the regular season and a no-hitter in the postseason. Halladay showered his catcher with kind words and gifts after those games. Ruiz has the pitching rubber from the perfect game against Florida at Sun Life Stadium and a replica of Halladay's 2010 Cy Young Award.
"He is able to make adjustments during a game based on what he sees," Halladay said. "You have your plan, and he's very good about it. But there are times he goes away from it, and it is usually because he saw something or he wants to try something. And he's usually right."
The fact that the best pitcher in baseball fell in love with his catcher's work in his first season in Philadelphia is the ultimate compliment.
Equally high praise for Ruiz came recently from Brian Schneider, the Phillies reserve catcher who spent his first season in Philadelphia last year.
"I admire that he's not just mentally tough, he's physically tough," Schneider said. "I admire how he'd get banged up - foul balls, foul tips, being sore - and he would still go out there every day. He never complained. He just did his job."
With second baseman Chase Utley out indefinitely because of a knee injury and Jayson Werth gone from the lineup, the Phillies might need even more from Ruiz offensively this year.
A catcher's most important job is always going to be handling the pitching staff and running the game from behind home plate. But Ruiz said his offensive value is catching up to his work behind the plate.
"I think both parts of my job are important now," Ruiz said. "I proved to myself last year that I could pull everything together. I know my job behind home plate is big for the rotation and the bullpen guys. But at the same time when I go hit, I want to do my job, too. I feel like I can do some good things for my team on offense. But I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I want to relax and have fun."
Ruiz, 32, took eight years to get to the big leagues and five years before he hit .300, something he had done four times during his long minor-league career.
"I think he's one of those guys who is maturing late," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He kind of got to the big leagues late, and he started maturing at the big leagues late."
Schneider hopes that the Phillies don't lean too much on Ruiz offensively even though he thinks his catching friend is capable of producing.
"I hope that's not the case," Schneider said. "Honestly, because catching every day, it's a mentally tough game back there. What he did last year I think was far beyond what anybody thought he would do. I just hope he doesn't try to do more than that because what he did last year was unbelievable.
"I think he's way more valuable behind the plate than anything he does offensively."
Schneider and Ruiz have developed a tight relationship when it comes to the defensive part of their games.
"We're constantly talking and trying to help each other out. But he knows, and I know, that he's the main guy. He's the honcho and the one that is going to take us to the next level. I'm constantly his biggest fan back there."
Ruiz's Career Statistics
Year, Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
2006, Phillies 69 5 18 3 10 .261
2007, Phillies 374 42 97 6 54 .259
2008, Phillies 320 47 70 4 31 .219
2009, Phillies 322 32 82 9 43 .255
2010, Phillies 371 43 112 8 53 .302
Career 1456 169 379 30 191 .260
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Ruiz Among Phillies Catchers
Carlos Ruiz ranks ahead of former star catchers Bob Boone and Darren Daulton on the Phillies' all-time list of batting averages for catchers with at least 450 games played. Here are the numbers:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO OBP SLG AVG
Spud Davis 814 2462 234 790 134 11 53 363 197 173 .368 .449 .321
Butch Henline 576 1706 226 519 80 17 36 231 147 121 .364 .434 .304
Jack Clements 997 3717 536 1074 193 53 70 636 306 299 NA .426 .289
Jimmie Wilson 838 2545 305 732 119 11 22 315 172 152 .328 .369 .288
Mike Lieberthal 1174 4141 528 1137 255 10 150 609 331 560 .338 .450 .275
Tim McCarver 622 1456 172 396 79 12 26 1 166 198 119 .359 .396 .272
Carlos Ruiz* 487 1456 169 379 98 5 30 191 193 188 .353 .396 .260
Bob Boone 1125 3690 349 957 172 21 65 456 .65 311 .325 .370 .259
Stan Lopata 821 2545 375 655 116 25 116 393 389 481 .356 .459 .257
Darren Daulton 1020 3223 440 785 176 17 123 525 546 647 .354 .423 .244
Andy Seminick 985 2936 385 716 102 21 123 411 450 591 .349 .419 .244
Red Dooin 1219 3832 321 922 137 29 10 335 150 64 .267 .299 .241
Bill Killefer 636 1958 149 471 56 13 4 156 57 99 .261 .289 .241
Clay Dalrymple 1006 2881 225 674 95 22 50 312 351 378 .319 .334 .234
* active
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