This had to sting, more than getting plunked at the plate, more than getting battered behind it. This wasn't like any blow Wilson Ramos had absorbed in his big-league career. This was a shot to his pride.
Ramos was a two-time All-Star. He was a Silver Slugger winner. And yeah, he may have been coming off a down year in 2020, but that was ... 2020, the strangest baseball season anyone can remember. It didn't erase the fact that Ramos had the best batting average and fifth best OPS among big-league catchers over the last five seasons.
Oh but it did.
Just two years removed from landing a $19 million deal with the Mets, Ramos entered free agency this offseason and hardly heard a peep. And while the market was slow across baseball, his peers were doing fine. J.T. Realmuto got $115 million from the Phillies in a deal that made him the highest-paid catcher in MLB history. James McCann got $40 million to replace Ramos in New York. Heck, Jason Castro got $7 million to be a backup in Houston.
Ramos?
"It was a tough market in free agency," he said. "Seeing a lot of teams offer me a minor league contract, that was tough."
Ramos has his defensive shortcomings, yes. He played over 900 games in the last decade by outhitting them. What's more, he's never entered a clubhouse without lifting it. People smile in his orbit. Ramos is known as The Buffalo for his ability to withstand abuse behind the plate, for his unflinching 245-pound frame, but his mien is much more gentle. His eyes are soft.
In the fifth inning of the Tigers' 8-2 win over the Astros on Tuesday, Ramos hit his fifth homer of the season. In the ninth inning he hit his sixth. He didn't hit his sixth homer last season until ... no, he didn't hit six homers last season at all. But the Tigers figured that was an exception, the result of a season that ended before many players could get started, and decided to bet on Ramos' track record. They signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal.
It was a risk worth taking for Detroit. The club was desperate for more offense from the catcher's spot, and Ramos was desperate to prove 2020 was a fluke. His body wasn't where he wanted it to be after the pause between spring training and summer camp and he didn't recover until it was too late. But it was much too early to write him off. Soft eyes aren't sunken.
"I was looking for this opportunity to play every day. The Tigers gave it to me and now I’m very happy because I'm doing my job," said Ramos, 33. "I'm still young enough to play more years in the big leagues. I’m showing a lot of people who were not trusting me in free agency that I’m doing a good job and giving good support to this team."
Ramos' second home run on Tuesday gave him the outright lead in the majors. He hit his first two in Detroit on line drives to left, his next two in Cleveland on booming drives to center, and his last two in Houston on towering flies to right. Ramos is putting balls in the air at a career-high clip, and his buffalo brawn is making them count. His average exit velocity (100.2 mph) is the best in the bigs.
It's April. The season is less than two weeks old. Ramos won't lead the majors in homers much longer -- not with the way Akil Baddoo is swinging! -- but he leads the majors in homers right now. After a winter of rejection, that must feel pretty good.
"That’s like, a dream come true," Ramos said. "First time in my career I’ve led that spot. It makes me feel happy. All my family, they call me and text me and very excited for me because I worked really hard during the offseason and now I'm feeling that work pay off. Very excited because I feel 100 percent right now and I want to show what I can do. Very happy for this moment in my career."