Mets 2023 First Half Report Card: Catchers

The Mets haven’t had a truly great catcher since Mike Piazza. They haven’t even really had a good catcher since Paul Lo Duca. That’s about a decade-and-a-half of consistently below-average play, at least offensively, from behind the plate.

This year though, that’s changing.

The Mets have used five catchers this year. Three of them, Francisco Álvarez, Omar Narváez and  Tomás Nido, will get grades. The other two, Michael Pérez and Gary Sánchez , combined for just five games, so grades from them would be a little pointless. Just for fun, let’s say Perez gets a B+, and Sanchez a D. No explanation, draw your own conclusions.

Really though, this article is about one person — Álvarez. He is nothing short of a budding superstar. Is he the best catcher in baseball? No, of course not, but he’s so young, it’s not inconceivable to think that in a few years, he could be. It’ll be him or Adley Rutschman. Let’s see how he and the rest of the Mets’ catchers have fared this season.

Francisco Álvarez: A-

Despite not making the opening day roster, Álvarez has played in 66 of the Mets’ 90 games this year, three times as many as Nido, who has the second-most appearances. In those 66 games, he has hit .238/.295/.514, good for a .809 OPS and 119 OPS+. He’s hit 17 home runs in just 227 plate appearances, which is the most among all MLB catchers. He’s also been a lot better than advertised defensively, ranking in the 74th percentile on Baseball Savant in framing and inside the top-10 on Baseball Prospectus in deserved runs prevented, catching defense added, framing runs and blocking runs.

Long story short, he’s been really good. He hasn’t been perfect, but for a 21-year-old, the Mets couldn’t have asked for more.

Omar Narváez: C

Some are probably going to say a C is too generous for Omar Narváez. Through 17 games, he’s hit just .184/.267/.184, which is a .451 OPS. But that’s just it, only 17 games.

Narváez was hurt for the first few months of the season, and by the time he came back Álvarez had a firm grasp on the everyday job. Would it be nice if he had a single extra-base hit this year? Obviously. But he’s had just 45 plate appearances. It appears he’s taken being relegated to a full-time bench role in stride, so that’s all you can ask. In time, his offensive numbers will improve, he just hasn’t had an opportunity. 

Tomás Nido: C-

Tomás Nido is one of the most likable people in the organization, but he became an unfortunate consequence of the roster crunch this season. By all accounts, he is still a very good defensive backstop, as he always has been, including last year when he was a NL Gold Glove Finalist.

However, the offensive numbers went from bad to awful this year for Nido, as he is hitting just  .125/.153/.125 through 22 games and 61 plate appearances. Last year, he was poor offensively, but the OPS was at least .600. By the time the Mets designated him for assignment this year to make room for a healthy Narváez, it was .278. He cleared waivers and is still in the Mets system in Triple-A, so his story with the organization isn’t necessarily over … but it’s at the very least in the final few chapters.

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