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.