2 NY Mets players off to surprising starts, 1 playing as expected to open the season

Luis Torrens has looked like a starter and not a backup we dread to see

The Mets' depth chart took a big hit when young backstop Francisco Alvarez suffered a broken left hamate bone in his hand. Over the last two seasons, Alvarez has caught nearly 1600 innings and started 182 games behind the dish. While he only produced about league-average results in 2023 and 2024, he hit 25 homers as just a 21-year-old backstop in '23 and was a consensus top-ten prospect heading into that season. On top of that, Alvarez has graded out as a strong defender with +6 defensive runs saved and +23.1 framing runs.

Losing Alvarez meant that Luis Torrens would have to step up as the catcher for now. Torrens entered the 2025 season with a career .227/.289/.356 triple-slash, .282 wOBA, and 91 wRC+. He has only ever had one season where he was an average hitter, that being in 2021 with the Seattle Mariners when he had a 101 wRC+ in 378 plate appearances.

Torrens' production in 2024 with the Mets was perfectly fine as a backup catcher. He hit .229/.292/.373 with a .292 wOBA, and 90 wRC+ in 130 plate appearances. His defense behind the dish was also solid, grading out positively in both defensive runs saved at +4 and framing runs at +0.9 for the first time in any season in his career. He produced nearly +1.0 fWAR (+0.8 to be exact) in only 48 games, making him one of the more valuable second-string catchers.

However, Torrens already has five hits in 17 plate appearances. He had 27 all of last year. Three have gone for extra bases, including a home run and two doubles. He has struck out four times and only has one walk, but he hit only three home runs all of last season. Torrens has also gone three-for-three in caught stealings and made some slick defensive plays behind the dish during the final game of the series against the Marlins.