Exploring Mets’ Catching Options With Alvarez Out

For the New York Mets, injuries to the starting pitching were biting them hard after Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea went down. On Sunday, the catcher position took a hit as Francisco Alvarez was placed on the injured list with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand. Alvarez will miss the next six to eight weeks and will require surgery. It’s the second year in a row Alvarez will miss significant time due to injury. Luis Torrens will take over as the starter for now, but where else might the Mets turn to fill the second catcher spot on the roster? Let’s take a look at who they can turn to.

Internal Options

Before Sunday’s spring training game against Washington, president of baseball operations David Stearns noted, “We’ll see. I think we feel good about the guys we have in camp.” This was in response to whether or not the Mets would look outside the organization to compensate for Alvarez’s injury. It feels all but likely the Mets will stay internal, especially with the timetable for the youngster’s return.

Looking inside the Mets organization, the following players now have an opportunity for the rest of spring training to get a spot on the roster. Take Jakson Reetz, for example. He started Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals, and he made his presence felt with a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to give New York a 6-0 lead.

JAKSON REETZ GRAND SLAM!

The 29-year-old catcher makes his presence felt as he competes for the Opening Day roster spot ????
pic.twitter.com/8G97YTUyki

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) March 9, 2025

Reetz has played in just eight MLB games, including six with the San Francisco Giants last year. Meanwhile, Chris Williams hit 38 home runs in the previous two years in Triple-A. Hayden Senger is a defensive whiz but has struggled with the bat in the minors (.235/.325/.360/.684 line across six minor league seasons).

The Mets, of course. have former first-round pick Kevin Parada, who’s never played above Double-A. He’s the least likely to find a spot on the roster and has also struggled with plate discipline in his minor league career. Parada hit just .214/.304/.359/.663 in 2024 with Binghamton, finishing his season with a 94 wRC+, 33.7% strikeout rate and .146 ISO. Depending on what the Mets do, they will have three weeks to show New York they don’t have to look outside the organization.

James McCann

The name James McCann might make Mets fans groan after his stint in New York from 2021-2022 didn’t work out. However, after Alvarez’s injury, signing a savvy vet like McCann could help for a bit. The same way Torrens did. Soon to be 35 years old, McCann is an 11-year veteran with valuable experience behind the plate and can manage a pitching staff. His bat may not be his strong suit right now (.234/.279/.388 in 66 games), but he’s a tough player behind the plate. Look at last year as a Baltimore Oriole when he got hit on the nose and stayed in the game. He then started a game two days later. The Orioles applauded his toughness and leadership after that.

Yasmani Grandal

A boom-or-bust type player, the switch-hitting Yasmani Grandal has seen his power decline over the last three seasons. He went from hitting 163 home runs between 2014-2021 to just 22 from 2022-2024. He hasn’t reached 20 home runs since 2021 and has not passed 10 home runs since. His WAR has ranged in the negatives in two of the last three seasons. However, David Stearns knows him well from his days in Milwaukee, and Grandal was an All-Star in 2019 with the Brewers. That season, he hit a career-high 28 home runs.

He spent 71 games behind the dish for the Pirates in 2024 and ranked eighth in catcher framing runs (how well a catcher frames a pitch to influence an umpire’s call). For reference, Francisco Alvarez ranked ninth At 36 years old, Grandal still finished with positive blocks above average in 2024 (two). The only Met to finish with positive blocks above average in 2024 was Omar Narváez (one). Torrens finished with negative four, and Alvarez finished with -20 blocks above average.

A Possible Tomás Nido Return?

After spending 13 years in the Mets organization, Tomás Nido was released last June after Torrens was acquired and Alvarez returned from the injured list. Nido spent the rest of the season with the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers, respectively. He re-signed with Detroit on a minor league contract during the offseason. Currently, Nido is the third catcher on the Tigers’ depth chart. As someone well-known in the Mets organization, Nido is familiar with their pitchers and coaches. This is always a plus for a ballclub to avoid as many growing pains as possible. He’s even doing well in spring training, as he’s batting .333/.368/.778/1.146 in nine games. On Wednesday, he hit two home runs in a 17-7 Tigers win over the Phillies.

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