Mets Futures – Catcher
We didn’t think the Mets had to deal
with this position, long past when Francisco Lindor‘s contract ran out.
But maybe they do.
Another Francisco, named Alvarez, just
isn’t panning out the way we all thought he would. He came to New York as a 20/year
old and everybody says he had one hell of a great year in 2023 because of the
amount of home runs he hit. Does anyone remember he hit .209 in 382-ABs? His
lifetime major league batting average is just above .230. And, though he hit 25
home runs in 2023, he followed that with only 11 last season and has only one
so far in 2025.
The Mets are far away from putting this
position to bed.
But, this wasn’t going to be a problem
because the Mets also drafted another killer catcher in the first round just in
case a scenario developed like this one. Hell, I’m not even gonna mention this
dud’s name.
The good news is the Mets have a very
capable additional catcher… no longer a backup… this season in Luis Torrens. He’s hit better than
Alvarez… in fact, in May, he led all Mets batters in wRC+. And,
he deals up a better defensive game. The
pitchers love him and he doesn’t hit free agency until 2027. Cool beans.
They also have a very capable,
defense-minded backup, currently in AAA-Syracuse, in Hayden Senger. He hasn’t been in the
majors since April and he still is ranked 5th in defensive runs saved.
He also is still under team control and will be into the next decade.
Frankly, this might be enough for next
season if the Mets continue to add more exciting bats to this lineup each
season. Alvarez made us all drool thinking we had another Mike Piazza behind the plate. At
this point, he could be just a Mike Fitzgerald, or Mike Nickeas.
Past this is, well, sort of exciting.
There are five catchers in the chain to
keep an eye on:
Chris Suero/Brooklyn – 21/years
old. Right now, probably the most exciting because he also plays a very capable
first base and left field. In a housing Born and raised in a housing project in
the Bronx. Signed for a 10/K bonus. Cyclones’ manager Gilbert Gomez said that Suero “the
traits of a leader”.
Through 6-1: 136-AB, 8-HR, 32-RBI, 16-SB, 20-BB, 49-K,
.243/.385/.471/.855
Ronald Hernandez/Brooklyn – 21/years
old. SH 5-11 170. Signed by Marlins as 2021 IFA ($850K).
Traded to Mets July 2023 (along with IF Marco Vargas) for RP David Robertson.
2021-23, Marlins:
DSL: .209/.365/.358, 31-BB, 32-K
– showed strong plate discipline
FCL: .298/.464/.452 (before trade)
2023/FCL Mets:
.286/.509/.486, 15-BB, 10-K
Low-A: .172/.333/.241
Overall 2023: .294/.472/
Through 6-1: 135/AB, 4-HR, 27-RBI, 15.BB, 37-K, .259/.342/.400/.742
Mack – My favorite. His boom is really starting to boom.
Daiverson Guiterrez – 19/years old. 5-11
210 RHH RHT
2023 IFA ($1.9mil of total $5,284 bonus
pool)
2024/DSL Blue: .300/.472/.475 but in only 40-AB
FCL: .317/.463/.537,
41-AB
St. Lucie: .111/.111/.222,
27-AB
Overall 2024: .8.4% K-rate, reduced from 17.1% in 2023
Through 6-1: 130-AB, 3-HR, 16-RBI, 21-BB, 23-K, .215/.342/.300/.642
Noted for above-average arm strength
Projected for 25+ HR
Needs to refine blocking and receiving
Mack – Off to an embarrassing start this season, based on money paid
here
Julio Zayas/FCL -
19/years old 5-11
190 RHP
2023 IFA
2023/DSL - .885-OPS,
7-HR, 22-XBH
Demonstrated notable power for age
Showed capability behind the plate
Also logged 84.2 innings at 3B and 39 innings at 1B
2024/FCL: 109-AB,
3-HR, 17-RBI, 18-BB, 22-K, .239/.354/.367/.721
2025/FCL: (thru 6-2) 48-AB, 1-HR, 6-RBI, 7-BB, 6-K, .313/.411/.458/.869
Mack – yes, he is repeating the FCL level, but the kid is only 19 and he’s
hitting .313, with an .869-OPS. I’ll take it.
Yadier Fuentes –
Just recently signed as IFA.
Jett Williams
The Mets’ Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, were in town, and their top prospect at the moment, shortstop Jett Williams, was leading off. He looked very good at the plate, like his injury-marred 2024 season never happened, driving the ball well and running plus again. It’s a big swing for a fun-sized guy — the Rumble Ponies had two players in their lineup who were 5-foot-6, Williams and Wyatt Young, so I felt seen — and Williams is going to have to max out his strength to make this swing work; otherwise it’s a lot of flyouts, because he swings like he’s going to hit it 450 feet. He doesn’t chase much at all, and he barely puts the ball on the ground, which are good things as long as you have enough juice for those balls in the air to at least be doubles, not outs. He can play shortstop, but that’s academic as long as he’s in the Mets’ system.
MLB’s 25
best games of the 2000s
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6388908/2025/05/30/best-mlb-games-2000s-ranking/
16. 2015
NLDS Game 5: Mets 3, Dodgers 2
Before he
cut his hair and emerged as an overpowering two-time Cy Young Award winner,
this was the night that Jacob deGrom established
himself as one of the game’s best pitchers. Without anything resembling his
best stuff, deGrom danced through trouble all night. He allowed two Dodgers
runs on four straight hits in the first inning, and Los Angeles put a runner on
second base with less than two outs in the second, third, fourth and fifth
frames. DeGrom stranded the runner(s) each time, proving even low-scoring games
could be full of action.
On the
other side, Daniel Murphy was just starting his
run as an October hero. Murphy drove home the Mets’ first run, scored their
second (after advancing two bases on a walk) and hit the go-ahead homer off
Zack Greinke in the sixth. Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia finished what deGrom started.
What
might New York need at the trade deadline?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6396693/2025/06/02/this-week-in-mets-trade-deadline-needs/
How good
will Mets feel about top half of rotation?
The Mets
are where they are with that offense because of the way their pitching staff
has performed. New York’s rotation has finally fallen behind the Rangers for
the best ERA in baseball, but its 2.91 ERA is still the best in the NL by more
than half a run.
The Mets
have proven in these first two months that they possess enviable starting
depth: Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill were supposed to fight it out for the
sixth spot in the rotation, and instead they’ve both pitched exceedingly well
every fifth day. The question is how good the top half of the Mets’ rotation
can be.
In other
words, who do the Mets want to trust come October?
As good
as New York’s rotation pitched down the stretch and into the early rounds last
year, it wasn’t up to the task against the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup in the
NLCS. Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea should return before the All-Star break, and by then,
the Mets will have a better read on the sustainability of what Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes,
David Peterson, Canning and Megill have done.
No, right
here, right now, it doesn’t look like the Mets will be in the market for an ace
at the deadline. (It’s also up in the air how many purported aces will be on
the market.) But the Mets should be in position to start contemplating the best
playoff roster they can build, and the top part of the rotation could be in
that conversation.
Eno Sarris’ MLB starting pitcher rankings for the rest of
2025
#37 Clay
Holmes
102
Stuff+ 3.44 ppERA
Stuff+ 102
Location+ 103
Pitching+ 106
Proj. IP 149
ppERA 3.44
ppK% 23.10%
Early MLB
All-Star team picks
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6401037/2025/06/04/mlb-all-star-team-predictions-2025/
Francisco Lindor, Mets (starter) — Lindor leads all shortstops with 14 home
runs and has put up an .854 OPS while stealing 10 bases in 12 attempts and
playing plus defense.
4 comments:
And of course Lindor has a broken pinky toe. On a HBP. On a team that gets hit TOO MUCH.
Catchers good. .alvarez mystifying. Yovanny hurt. Wonder when he returns.
Lindor is a gamer.. he will play through this
Alvarez?
He would demand 60 day
I no longer have any answer for Alvy
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