Amid The Post’s report Monday that Noah Syndergaard was frustrated having him as his catcher, Wilson Ramos seemed to only be focused on the Mets’ matchup with the Diamondbacks on Monday night.
After the Mets took a 1-0 lead on a Pete Alonso solo homer in the first inning, Ramos kicked off the fourth with a leadoff double. Two outs later, and after an intentional walk to Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario ripped a full-count single, bringing Ramos home as the Mets took a two-run lead.
Ramos finished the night going 2-for-3, adding a single to left-center in the eighth, as the Mets defeated the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the first of a four-game series at Citi Field.
“I think that we have players that know they can only control what they can control,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said following the win. “And he’s going to go out there every game and play to the best of his ability. He’s done it day in and day out for us, even when things weren’t going very good for him.
“He came in and tried to make himself better at the plate, behind the plate and has continued to improve as a player just like anybody would no matter where you are in your career. It’s paying off for him.”
Ramos has been essentially irreplaceable at the plate for the Mets in the second half of the season, making the controversy with Syndergaard that much more difficult to navigate. Ramos did not speak with reporters after Monday night’s game.
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters he wouldn’t call it an “incident” between Ramos and Syndergaard, but acknowledged Syndergaard expressed his feelings about being paired with Ramos.
However, Van Wagenen didn’t shy away from sharing his views on what the 32-year-old catcher has brought to the Mets this season.
“I believe Wilson is motivated to go out and win every game,” the GM said. “Every time he steps foot on the field. And I’m confident he’ll continue to do that.”
Ramos is coming off of a tremendous August, when he batted .434 and put together a 26-game hitting streak that continued into September. He’s continued to stay strong at the plate this month, posting hits in five of the last seven contests. He currently ranks third on the team with 71 RBIs, behind Conforto and Pete Alonso.
“Wilson is one of the better offensive catchers in the game, his defense has been much improved over the course of the year,” Van Wagenen said. “We’re lucky to have him. We set out to improve our catching situation from where we were last year and we think we’ve done that with the three guys we have on the roster now and we hope that Noah and Wilson specifically will be part of our future.”
Purchase event tickets to The Amazin’ 1969 New York Mets: A World Championship for the Ages presented by The Paley Center for Media and New York Post. Enter promo code: NYPOST to unlock tickets only available for Post readers.