2 surprise NY Mets players whose strong starts are the real deal, 1 bound regression

The New York Mets have gotten plenty of good performances to open the year. Pete Alonso is one of the most obvious examples, but many of their hurlers have also looked great. However, some may question the sustainability of all of these performances. But these two Mets have a good chance of keeping up their production. However, a third Mets player is a likely regression candidate going forward.

This is the real deal for Luis Torrens

Luis Torrens has served as a secondary backstop for most of his career. He’s appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons, only receiving more than 200 plate appearances in just one of those seasons. The Mets acquired Torrens late last May, and he primarily served a similar role, providing depth behind former top prospect Francisco Alvarez.

Torrens batted .229/.292/.373 with a .292 wOBA, and 90 wRC+ in 130 plate appearances. He only struck out 21.5% of the time but had a below-average 6.9% walk rate. Torrens went yard a half-dozen times with a .144 isolated slugging percentage. Torrens, who typically graded out as a below-average defender, had +4 defensive runs saved and +0.4 framing runs in just under 300 innings behind the dish.

Heading into spring training, Torrens was expected to be the go-to back-up to Alvarez. But a fractured left hamate bone forced Torrens into more action, and he’s more than made up for Alvarez’s absence. Torrens is batting a respectable .240/.296/.420 with a 96 OPS+ through 52 plate appearances. He only has a 3.8% walk rate and 23.1% K%, but has hit one homer, six doubles, and a .180 isolated slugging percentage.

But there’s room for Torrens to be even better. He has a 91.7 MPH exit velocity (78th percentile) with an 18.4% barrel rate. That is higher than the likes of Salvador Perez and Kyle Tucker. His expected stats are also outstanding, with a .395 xwOBA (87th percentile), .329 xBA (95th percentile), and .572 xSLG% (90th percentile).