The New York Mets activated backup catcher Luis Torrens from the injured list Wednesday. The Mets removed Torrens from the 10-day injured list and he’ll be coming off the bench. Regular catcher Francisco Alvarez is batting eighth and behind the dish Wednesday.
Torrens Is Elite Defensively
The Mets acquired Torrens from the New York Yankees last May. At the time, the Mets’ catching defense was in desperate need of an upgrade. Teams were running wild on Omar Narvaez, and the Mets needed to do something before the season got out of control.
Torrens has not only steadied the defense behind the dish, but vastly improved it over the last year-plus.
Since coming to the Mets, Torrens has been one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, particularly at controlling the running game. Stolen bases are up league-wide because of the bigger bases and throwover limitations, but Torrens is fantastic at limiting the steals. He’s caught 45% of would-be base-stealers, the best mark in the league.
Per Baseball Savant, Torrens has one of the fastest pop times in the game, behind only J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies and Endy Rodriguez of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s also one of the best catchers at framing strikes.
Torrens provides the Mets one of the best backup catchers in the league. With Alvarez battling injuries to both hands and avoiding another injury Tuesday night, Torrens’ presence gives the Mets a quality option in case Alvarez needs a game off.
Torrens Complements Alvarez Well
While Torrens is elite defensively, he’s not a great hitter. His OPS is well below league average. Fortunately for the Mets, Alvarez’s bat is much better. Alvarez got to the majors when he was 20 years old because of his ability to hit, particularly with power. Per Fangraphs, of the 42 catchers with at least 240 plate appearances this year, Alvarez’s .766 is the 12th-best, while Torrens’ .635 is the seventh-worst.
The Mets could have games where they start Alvarez and then sub Torrens in late for defense, or start Torrens and then have Alvarez pinch-hit if they need a run.
It was a short injury stint for Torrens, who was placed on the injured list on September 8 with a right forearm contusion. In 86 games this year, he’s hitting .225 with five homers and 29 RBI.
The Mets optioned catcher Hayden Senger to Triple-A Syracuse.
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