Ronny Paulino: Short Time Mets Catcher (2011)

-
Ronny Leonel Paulino was born on April 21, 1981 in Santo Domingo. In 1997 the six-foot three catcher was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates at age 16.

In 2004, while rising through the ranks of the minor leagues, Ronny batted .285 at AA Altoona. In 2005 he then hit .306 between AA & AAA. He was passed up as the Pirates top catching prospect by Ryan Doumit who was tearing up A ball with his hitting. 

MLB Debut: That season Paulino made his debut with the Pirates appearing in two late September games.

In 2006 Pauling played his first full season due to injuries to the Pirates regular catchers. Paulino
did well, as he batted .310 with 6 HRs 19 doubles & 55 RBIs. 

Behind the plate he caught a league leading 38 runners trying to steal (36%) & was second with 72 assists. He also allowed a league leading 11 errors & nine passed balls (third in the NL). The next year he fell to a .263 average but had career highs in HRs (11) RBIs (55) doubles (25) & games played (133).

In 2008 he became the backup catcher as Ryan Doumit took over the position after playing the outfield the previous year. Paulino was then sent to the minors playing in just 40 games with the Pirates.

In December 2008 he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Jaramillo. In March 2009 he got traded to the San Francisco Giants & the same day was shipped to the Florida Marlins for a minor leaguer. 

Paulino spent two seasons in Florida (2009-2010) the first year he was a backup to John Baker. In 2010 he became the Marlins main catcher batting. 259 with 4 HRs 18 doubles & 37 RBIs. 

Behind the plate he threw out 24 base runners (5th most in the NL) nailing 31% of runners trying to steal on him. Paulino also allowed 53 stolen bases (5th most in the NL). He posted a .991 fielding % while committing six errors (4th most in the NL).

His year started off well, first on April 7th in the second game of the season he singled in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning, in a game against the Mets at Citi Field. On April 10th he came in to bat as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning with the bases loaded & the Marlins down 6-4 to the Los Angele Dodgers.

Paulino doubled scoring the tying runs as Jeff Cantu later drove in the game winner with a sac fly. On April 17th he hit a three HR leading the Marlins past the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1. He hit well enough to keep his average above .300 into early June. On July 17th he drove in both Marlins runs in a 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals. 

Suspension: Paulino was suspended 50 games for using a banned substance, ending his season in August & carry over eight games into the next season.

Mets Career: In December he signed a deal with the New York Mets.

Paulino began the year at St. Lucie then was promoted up to AAA Buffalo quickly making it to the Mets squad by the end of April. He would be used as a backup to Josh Tole playing in 78 games for the fourth place Mets.

Five Hit Game: On May 1st, in his first Mets start, Paulino played all 14 innings of 2-1 win at Philadelphia & ended up being the hitting hero. He collected five hits that night with four base hits then a top of the 14th inning double off Kyle Kendrick driving in David Wright in what was the games winning run. 

Four Hit Game: On June 8th he had a four hit game including a three run HR off the Brewers Kameron Loe in a Mets loss at Milwaukee.

In a July 3rd subway series game, Paulino came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning as a pinch hitter with the Mets down 2-1. He singled off Mariano Rivera scoring Jason Bay & tying up the game. Bay would win the game with a walk off single in the 10th inning.

In late July he would have a pair of three hit games & remained over the .300 mark into early August. He then suffered from anemia which gave him stomach issues & had him miss over a week of action. 

Paulino finished the year batting .268 with 2 HRs 13 doubles & 19 RBIs. He posted a .312 on base % & .663 OPS in 228 at bats. Behind the plate Ronny threw out 20% of runners trying to steal while posting a .983 fielding %.

After the season he was granted free agency & signed with the Baltimore Orioles. In 2012 he appeared in just twenty games behind O's backstop Matt Wieters (144 games) & Taylor Teagarden (22 games). He did not play in the ALDS action. 

Post Mets Career: In 2013 he played in the minors for the Orioles & Detroit Tigers. Stupidly he was suspended a second time for PED use.

Career Stats: In an eight-year career, Paulino hit .272 with 508 hits 33 HRs 93 doubles & 216 RBIs in 573 games. He struck out 328 times with 145 walks posting a .324 on base % & .700 OPS.

Behind the plate he caught 528 games throwing out 29% of would-be base stealers.

Retirement: Paulino went on to play in the Mexican Baseball League (2014-2017). 

In 2023 he began coaching in the LA Dodgers minor leagues at A ball Rancho & later AA Tulsa.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more