Bygone top NY Mets prospect should probably be in AAA right now

Faced with the possibility of not seeing Francisco Alvarez in a game again until next season, the New York Mets may need to manage the rest of the season without their young slugger. The timing couldn’t have been more ruthless. Weeks after the trade deadline and in the midst of Alvarez finally hitting with consistency for the first time since the early part of 2024, his thumb injury has the ball club now relying on Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger; the latter being far more temporary.

Triple-A doesn’t offer the Mets too many solutions. However, down in Double-A, Kevin Parada has hit his way back into the good graces of fans who might have forgotten about him.

Calling Parada up from Double-A might be a little too ambitious of a move. What isn’t up for a debate is that he should be in Triple-A immediately for a “just in case” situation.

Kevin Parada needs some better competition for the Mets to truly know if he can be a big league emergency option in 2025

The numbers this season in Double-A fail to tell the exact story of Parada’s season. It’s what he has done more recently which has had fans actually considering a leapfrog to the major leagues. He went into his game on Wednesday batting .344/.447/.531 in August, adding a 1 for 4 performance in a Binghamton win. He went into the day with an .893 OPS over the last 90 days which is a large enough sample to buy into on some level.

The totals aren’t outlandish like Carson Benge was putting up during his time in Double-A. And if Parada is on the radar as a potential option for the Mets to call up, the organization isn’t doing him much good by staying in Double-A any longer. The talent level between Double-A and Triple-A might not be too extreme, but it’ll be a nice test to see how Parada responds to a new environment with many pitchers he’s not familiar with both as a hitter and defender.

Any time a team loses their starting catcher it’s cause for concern. Easily the most difficult position to replace on a roster because of many starters around the league are already deficient hitters, the ball club is now one more injury away from an absolute zero at the position. Torrens is about as exceptional of a backup catcher as you can ever hope for. Losing him, even for just a week, puts the team in an incredibly difficult hole with no shovel. Beaten up behind the plate on Wednesday only confirmed further how essential it is to do anything possible to have the best fourth string option up and ready. It takes one swing to change the catcher spot for the Mets entirely.

There’s no easy answer when it comes to replacing Alvarez, especially with how hot he had been since getting recalled. The least the Mets can do is promote a guy who once had so much promise, finally beginning to show signs of being something.