1 NY Mets player you might have forgot ended last year so poorly

Coming in near the bottom of a ranking of the importance of different roles on the 2025 New York Mets roster is the backup catcher spot. Luis Torrens handled the role valiantly, first sharing duties with Tomas Nido when he arrived in Queens via trade with the New York Yankees. He had a solid June slashing .310/.375/.655 with 3 home runs. He followed it up with a strong July, hitting .300/.341/.425 with 5 doubles and 8 RBI. He didn’t homer at all, though. All three of his long balls came in that fabulous first month of June.

Torrens wouldn’t hit much other than a slump in August, going just 3 for 27 without an extra-base hit. Things didn’t get much better in September. He’d go 3 for 22 with a pair of doubles and no runs batted in.

A 6 for 49 conclusion to an abbreviated Mets season where he received accolades for his defensive skills, most notably being able to throw out runners at a clip of just under 50%, the falloff at the plate put a slight damper on his year. He wasn’t the same productive hitter as he was early on. As a backup catcher who can tame base runners, the lack of hitting is only a problem if he starts regularly because Francisco Alvarez is hurt.

The Mets have already added some insurance from any prolonged stretch of Luis Torrens slumping at the plate

This offseason has already brought two new faces to the catching depth chart. Each signed to minor league deals, Jakson Reetz and Chris Williams are a pair of backstops capable of doing more than suiting up behind the plate. Both have played some corner outfield, adding some unique versatility to the Mets roster if either is needed at the major league level even in a situation where maybe Alvarez can DH but is too banged up to catch. Williams in particular with some good power at the Triple-A level adds some sort of a threat to opposing pitchers.

The Mets didn’t have the luxury of DH’ing their young catcher much last year. It’s often hard to slide a catcher into the offense-only spot in the lineup because an injury mid-game can cause some chaos. Plus, with J.D. Martinez on the roster, they’d have to sit their veteran slugger. This wasn’t out of the question late in the year with Martinez was toe-to-toe with Torrens as the club’s biggest slumper alongside Jesse Winker who also forgot how to hit in September.

Alvarez received his first DH start in the third game of the season and another on April 16. Both came before Martinez was ready to get his first hacks for the Mets. July 8 was the only other game all year where the Mets shifted things around to keep his bat in the lineup without putting him through the gauntlet of catching a major league game. He would, of course, go through a mostly unproductive July and August. Alvarez batted .200/.263/.314 in July and .171/.213/.235 in August. Finally in September, with a .254/.357/.542 performance and 5 home runs plus 17 RBI did he look like the dangerous hitter we’ve been told he had the capabilities of becoming. The two early DH starts suggests the Mets wouldn’t be opposed to it in 2025 even with one other catcher on the roster.

A few more games from Alvarez as the DH has its benefits for him to stay in the lineup and give Torrens a chance to keep from getting cold. It shouldn’t happen often, but more regular playing time can assist Torrens from falling into the trap of being just another catcher who can’t hit a lick.