Luis Torrens has earned the backup catcher job on a full-time basis
Luis Torrens has earned the backup catcher job on a full-time basis
Plus, the Mets are back in America and will open up a six-game homestand against the Marlins on Tuesday night...
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets had an off day on Monday following the London Series over the weekend
Back Stateside, New York will open up a six-game homestand against the Marlins and Padres at Citi Field
Tuesday night’s game against Miami in Queens could represent Opening Day 2.0 for the Mets and their faltering season (NY Post)
In his latest Mock Draft, Joe DeMayo has the Mets taking North Carolina OF Vance Honeycutt with the 19th pick (SNY)
New York did not do all that well in the annual player poll released by The Athletic on Monday. The Mets ranked fifth in having the worst reputation among players (The Athletic)
Down on the Farm 🌾
All four Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (28-36) vs. Marlins (22-43)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (1-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jesús Luzardo (2-5, 5.30 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where To Watch: SNY
Making the case for Luis Torrens to remain in Queens… ✍️
With Francisco Álvarez closing in on a return, the New York Mets face a tough and compelling decision over the backup catcher role.
Do they stick with who they know and keep Tomás Nido?
Or do they go all in on the man of the moment and fully commit to Luis Torrens?
Maybe it’s not that tough, as it turns out.
Based on what we’ve seen over the last week or so, it would seem foolish at this point not to award the full-time backup catcher job to Torrens.
Since being acquired from the Yankees for cash considerations, the 28-year-old has played at an All-Star level for the Mets. Heck, scratch that. He’s been an MVP caliber player for this team over the last little stretch.
In six games - dating back to the May 31 trade - Torrens is batting .313/.389/.750/.1.139 with two home runs, one double, two walks and four RBIs.
That is quite the impressive sample size, even if it is on the small side.
Furthermore, Torrens’ emergence has coincided with the Mets playing arguably their best stretch of baseball of the year. Certainly their most consistent. In the sweep over the Nationals in Washington last week, Torrens had a double and two RBIs in an 8-7 win. Then, two days later, he clubbed two home runs to help clinch a series sweep.
In short, he has added as a true spark plug for the bottom of the lineup. Hitters 6-9 have been responsible for a lot of the success the Mets have enjoyed over the last week. And Torrens has been a huge part of that.
The clutch performances at the plate only continued in London at the weekend, making it two capital cities in less than a week in which Torrens excelled. His single in the sixth inning on Sunday helped spark a three-run rally that tied the game. He then drew a walk in the top of the ninth to help set the stage for the comeback win.
However, we also saw in London just how clutch Torrens can be behind the plate too.
With runners on in the bottom of the ninth and Nick Castellanos at the plate, the Phillies had the chance to walk-off the Mets and sweep the London Series. Instead, Torrens displayed lightning quick reactions to pounce on the dribbler from Castellanos’ broken bat and turn a jaw-dropping 2-3 double play to end the game.
It was an absolutely breathtaking sequence of events, highlighting Torrens’ natural instincts as a catcher, his rapid arm and also his toughness as he was wiped out at home plate while making the game-winning play.
Torrens has also flashed an elite arm during his spell in Queens. He has quickly become a revelation when it comes to controlling runners on the basepaths, an area in which the Mets have been historically bad all year. He has thrown out three out of four would-be basestealers (75%). To put that into some context, Álvarez, Nido and Omar Narváez combined to throw out just eight of 69 base stealers (11.5%).
All told, in a short span Torrens has emerged as a key part of this lineup and he’s been instrumental in the Mets winning four of their last five games.
Now, there will be some that will argue this is too small a sample size and the bigger picture must be taken into consideration. After all, Torrens is a journeyman who has now been with eight different franchises since 2016.
However, I believe in fresh starts and a change of scenery being beneficial for certain players, and Torrens boasts the kind of skillset both at and behind the plate that is hard to turn down. Even if the sample size with the Mets is small, I believe Torrens has shown enough to warrant an extended stay in Queens. And the whole reason the Mets acquired him was because he had impressed Yankee brass with his defense behind the plate, whereas Omar Narváez was, well, not impressive at all to say the least.
He’s a very good catcher and he can provide offense, as we’ve seen in abundance over the last week or so. Plus, given his ability to hit for power and put the ball in play, you could even slot Torrens in at DH here and there in order to give J.D. Martinez the odd off day.
There is the possibility that the front office could opt to go with a three-man platoon at the catcher position, although that seems unlikely.
Given he didn’t start a game in London, Nido does appear to be the odd man out. Since returning to the team in April in the wake of Álvarez going down hurt, Nido has hit .229/.261/.361/.623 with three homers and eight RBIs.
Should the Mets decide to DFA Nido, he now has enough service time to refuse an outright to Triple-A and become a free agent without forfeiting his salary. It is possible that the team could trade Nido for cash considerations.
With all due respect to Nido, he just doesn’t offer the same tantalizing upside as Torrens does, even at 28-years-old and with a tag of serial journeyman attached to his name.
All in all, Torrens has seized his opportunity with the Mets and then some since being acquired, playing at an All-Star level and coming up with big-time contributions offensively and defensively. He’s shown he can produce at the bottom of the lineup, and he’s also flashed elite instincts, smarts and one heck of an arm behind the plate.
Of all the tough decisions the Mets may have to make in the run-up to the trade deadline, keeping Torrens and making him the full-time backup catcher behind Álvarez seems the easiest and most straightforward of them all.
He’s earned it, after all.
Around the League 🚩
Cal Raleigh hit a walk-off grand slam as the Mariners beat the White Sox, 8-4 in a wild one
Carlos Rodón tossed seven innings of one-run ball and Juan Soto reached base twice in his return as the Yankees prevailed over the Royals, 4-2
Baltimore clinched its first four-game sweep at The Trop in franchise history, thanks in part to another dominant outing from Corbin Burnes
Austin Slater came off the bench to hit a walk-off single in the Giants’ 4-3 win over the Astros
I agree about Torrens. He’s looked great and at the very least he seems like a Nido upgrade. Now to find someone who can play RF.
No disrespect to Nido. He's a third string catcher. He's fine in that role. He played better than the person originally signed to be the #1 catcher. Torrens has the extra something that a #2 catcher should have (such as offense or a special vet presence with a younger #1).