With the 10th season officially in the books for 2008 World Series champion catcher Carlos Ruiz, Philliedelphia's latest installment of "Season in Review" will examine the Panamanian-native's 2015 contributions to the Philadelphia Phillies.
At the Plate
Excluding his rookie season, Ruiz's production hit career-low marks nearly across the board.
Ruiz had exactly 19 hits in each month this season, excluding April (13). Approximately 15 percent of his 108 total hits went for extra bases (13 doubles, one triple, two home runs).
Despite playing in only 86 games, the catcher's 13 double plays he grounded into this season tied for 78th-most in all of baseball, and 34th-most in the National League.
Starting Pitcher Command
Spanning Ruiz's 81 starts this season, Phillies starting pitchers allowed 257 earned runs over 448 2/3 innings to yield a 5.16 ERA.
Taking away LHP Cole Hamels' 20 starts as a Phillie this season (52 ER, 128 2/3 IP), Ruiz's starting pitcher ERA would have been 5.77 (205 ER, 320 IP) over 61 games.
Fielding
Ruiz committed a career-high 11 errors behind the plate this season over 716 innings and 678 chances, two categories of which were career lows since his rookie season in 2006.
This season, Ruiz committed two errors each in the month of April (138 innings), June (124 2/3), July (107), August (99) and September/October (71 2/3).
Ruiz's best month in the field came in May, committing just one error over a season-high 175 2/3 innings.
The Phillies were 3-8 during 2015 games in which Ruiz committed an error, and were outscored 66-40. Six of these 11 games occurred away from Citizens Bank Park, and four were against National League East division opponents.
Looking Ahead
The Phillies owe Ruiz a minimum of $9 million over the next two seasons.
Ruiz, who turns 37 years old on Jan. 22, is guaranteed $8.5 million next season. It is unlikely that the Phillies will exercise his $4.5 million team option for 2017.
| Year | Age | Team | Salary |
| 2015 | 36 | PHI | $8,500,000 |
| 2016 | 37 | PHI | $8,500,000 |
| 2017 | 38 | PHI |
$4.5M Team Option, $500k Buyout |
Ruiz is not the same player that he was three years ago when he earned his first All-Star appearance and batted .325/.394/.540.
Under the assumption that the Phillies bring "Chooch" back for an 11th season in 2016, he will most definitely return in a platoon role, likely with Cameron Rupp.
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
