Mets: An inside look at the four catchers invited to Spring Training

The New York Mets, with their roster now mostly settled, descend on Port St. Lucie to kick off the start of Spring Training. After a long, tepid offseason, baseball has finally returned.

There are many storylines that are going to be worth following as Spring Training continues. One of the more interesting yet not often mentioned storylines is how the young catchers invited to Spring Training perform. While none of them will be on the Mets this season barring something miraculous, their performance over the next five weeks could determine their future with the organization.

The Mets invited four catchers to Spring Training, most of them at different stages of their professional careers. The first catcher, Francisco Alvarez, is the most notable young prospect that received an invite to Spring Training. He is widely regarded as one of the Mets top prospects and a future star. He was signed as an international free agent in 2018 with the expectation that he will one day be the Mets future starting catcher.

The Mets are hoping that Francisco Alvarez, one of their top prospects, offers a glimpse of what is to come in Port St. Lucie this Spring Training.

So far, Alvarez has justified this expectation. During the 2019 season in the Gulf Coast League, Alvarez compiled a batting line of .312/.407/.510 with 7 home runs and 26 RBI along with a 155 wRC+. However, his statistics do not tell the whole story. Apart from his solid offense, Alvarez has displayed a great feel for the game behind the plate defensively, with an above-average arm and the ability to frame pitches well.

Alvarez enters Spring Training camp with the expectation that he will not see the major league field for a while. When the Mets signed James McCann to a four-year deal, the expectation was created that once McCann’s contract expires, Alvarez would be ready to take over as the Mets starting catcher. As a result, Alvarez is not expected to make the major leagues until at least 2023 or 2024.

However, Spring Training provides Alvarez a perfect opportunity to showcase his skills and give the Mets faithful optimism that the future behind the plate looks very bright.

With his legal troubles over, Bruce Maxwell is seeking to reboot his major league career with the Mets.

Bruce Maxwell is the only veteran in the group of catchers that were invited. A second-round pick back in 2012, he spent three years with the Oakland Athletics organization, arriving in the big leagues first in 2016. What earned him a promotion to the big leagues was his strong offensive performance in Triple-A Nashville. Prior to his promotion, Maxwell batted .321 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in over 60 games. He continued hitting reasonably well with Oakland that season, compiling a .283/.337/.402 batting line over 32 games.

However, his offense gradually diminished over the next couple of seasons with the Athletics. In his last season with the Athletics, Maxwell compiled a .182/.207/.309 batting line with one home run and six RBI. He also had an off-field issue that placed him in legal trouble. Coupled with his underwhelming performance in 2018, it was no surprise that the Athletics made the decision to cut him loose.

However, Maxwell earned himself another opportunity with the Acereros de Monclova, and he made the most of it. He rediscovered his offense, compiling a batting average of .325 while clobbering 24 home runs and 112 RBI. Although the Mexican Baseball League is not at the same level as the major leagues, his performance internationally was noticed by several big league teams, including the New York Mets, who Maxwell ended up signing with.

Maxwell will get an opportunity to convince the Mets to bring him aboard as the team’s third catcher. The key for Maxwell will be to show the Mets that his rejuvenated offense was not simply an aberration, but a sign that he fixed what was ailing him and is once again the player the A’s drafted back in 2012.

David Rodriguez is another prospect who the Mets are hoping to see improvement from down in Florida this Spring Training.

The last catcher on the invitee list, David Rodriguez is another Venezuelan catcher who was signed as an international free agent and is seeking to cement his status as a prospect worth investing in going forward. Before he came to the Mets on a minor league deal, Rodriguez had spent seven years in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

Rodriguez was initially signed by the Mets to improve their catching depth in the minors. Like Meyer, he received praise for his defensive abilities behind the plate while his offense left a lot to be desired. Baseball America noted Rodriguez’s athleticism, which enables him to block wild pitches well, and his arm strength, which results in him responding to base stealers quickly.

However, Rodriguez’s offense has so far held him back in his career. He posted a mere 76 wRC+ back in 2018. Despite showcasing improvement in 2019, Rodriguez only hit .225/.303/.366 with seven home runs and 36 RBI, and his wRC+ was 95, which is still below the league average.

What should get Mets fans feeling optimistic is that his performance this past winter suggested that his improvement in 2019 was not an outlier but a sign that he is developing into a more well-rounded catcher. Rodriguez compiled a 1.040 OPS in winter ball this past year, and although it is a small sample size, the Mets must have liked what they saw from him there because they are giving him an opportunity to play in Florida during this Spring Training season.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

It is likely that Rodriguez will start the 2021 season in Double-A after Spring Training concludes, but being invited is an accomplishment in itself. It shows that the Mets still believe that he could be in their future plans, and it represents another developmental step in his professional career.