As many of you have heard, NYM catcher Travis d’Arnaud has suffered a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, aka. Tommy John surgery may be on the horizon. This seems to leave the Mets catching situation in a rather tenuous position. In the wake of d’Arnaud’s injury, the team called up Tomas Nido to the big leagues. According to assistant general manager John Ricco, Kevin Plawecki will get the majority of the playing time now with Nido and Jose Lobaton in Triple A providing depth. “We have a lot of faith in Kevin and we have two guys in Tomas and Jose that we got just for this reason”
While this in-house route seems to be the direction the team is going, Ricco did not exactly rule out the idea of a different short or long-term solution, “We are obviously going to discuss short-term and long-term ramifications of this”. With that being said, lets discuss some of the options for the team going forward….
Plawecki/Nimo/Lobaton Combination:
It seems to be the plan right now to give Kevin Plawecki the bulk of the playing time for now. Historically, Plawecki has struggled during many of his chances with the big team. That being said, he began to show signs of the hitting potential he showcased in the minors at the end of the 2017 season. These signs of improvement seemed to carry over to Spring Training this year where he batted .270 with a .341 OBP, .747 OPS, 1 HR and 7 RBI’s. These promising results are what spurred the team to basically split time between d’Arnaud and Plawecki during the season. However, these results have not seemed to translate just yet to the 2018 season, be it a small sample size so far. So far this season Plawecki has hit to the tune of a .150 BA (3-20), 0 HR’s, and 1 RBI. His OBP has been encouraging though at .393. One other issue has been his ability to throw out baserunners. Plawecki in 2017 threw out baserunners at 19% clip, well below league average. This may be as much a product of Mets pitching which has struggled to hold runners on, but a poor statistic none the less.
Tomas Nido has been the next touted catching prospect for the team the last few seasons. Known as a good defensive catcher primarily, his offensive numbers in the minors have been so-so so far. He owns a career .273 BA, but also sports a .273 OBP and .636 OPS with little power to speak of. What makes Nimo enticing is his defensive prowess, specifically his arm. In 2017 with Binghamton, Nimo threw out 45% of runners trying to swipe a bag against him. If he could translate this number to the big leagues or anything close, it would be a huge benefit to the team.
In the offseason, the Mets signed Jose Lobaton to a minor league deal purely for depth purposes at the position. Lobaton would provide a veteran presence behind the plate and has had some major league success in the past, but was awful in 51 games with the Nationals last year. He hit a mere .170 BA, .277 OBP, .525 OPS, with 4 HR’s and 11 RBI’s. He also managed to throw out just 20% of runners last year, well below league average. At best, Lobaton provides a veteran presence behind the plate and that’s about it.
Miguel Montero:
At 34 years old, Montero is the oldest option on this list. He was recently designated for assignment by the Nationals. Montero, like Lobaton, provides a good veteran presence behind the plate, with playoff experience as well. Montero has also had success in the big leagues as recently as 2015 where he hit .248 with a .345 OBP, .754 OPS, 15 HR’s and 53 RBI’s. That was the year the Cubs went to the playoffs and made it to the NLCS but were eliminated in just 4 games (hmm I wonder who did that). Anyway, Montero definitely is on the decline as he sported a .216 BA, .310 OBP, and .656 OPS in 2017. He also sported the lowest caught stealing percentage of his career at a mere 8%. Montero’s relationship with the Cubs also ended in some drama when he was cut by the team after criticizing Jake Arrieta for not holding runners on and getting blamed for the stolen bases that followed. I don’t know about you, but that seems like a recipe for disaster for the Mets if you know what I mean.
Jonathan Lucroy:
The 2x All Star has been a premier catcher for a while now He has been excellent on both sides of the ball. In what may have been his best year, Lucroy sported an impressive .292 BA, .355 OBP, .855 OPS, with 24 HR’s and 81 RBI’s. He also threw out 39% of runners the ran against him! Lucroy’s 2017 was more of a down year. He still hit .265 but only belted 6 HR’s and had a .371 slugging percentage. He did still throw out 27% of runners though which was about league average. Lucroy would be an interesting trade candidate because he is 32 and may have a few years of production left in him. If he can sport anything close to his 2016 numbers, it would be a major upgrade for this Mets team.
J.T. Realmuto:
Perhaps the most costly trade proposed here, and for good reason, is the Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. At 27 years old, Realmuto is coming into his prime, and his numbers are showing that. In 2017, Realmuto posted an excellent line, a .278 BA, .332 OBP, .783 OPS, with 17 HR’s and 65 RBI’s. Whats also interesting to note is that in the 4 years Realmuto has been in the league, his games played as well as his home run totals have increased every year. Realmuto may very well turn into a 20+ home run threat at catcher. Oh, he also threw out 32% of runners in 2017 and 35% in 2016. He would be a hard get though. Miami has been in the midst of yet another very public fire sale and may demand quite a bit for the catcher since he provides excellent numbers at a position so devoid of production at times. Think a Matz or Rosario swap for the catcher.
Salvador Perez:
Ok, this one may be more of a pipe dream on my part, but I wonder if the Mets would consider engaging the Royals in talks for their face of the franchise. He is coming of an offseason knee injury (something that should not be ignored) and has logged a huge amount of innings behind the plate over the past few years. That being said, he is perhaps the most accomplished catcher on this list and is still only 27 years old. He is a 5x All Star, has won 4 Gold Gloves, as well as a World Series champ in 2015 (don’t say it, I just stopped crying). In my humble opinion, he may be the best defensive catcher in the big leagues behind only Yadier Molina. This type of presence behind the plate would do wonders for this pitching staff. He has also hit 20 or more home runs every year since 2015. He hit 27 last year in just 129 games! He is a career .272 hitter and threw out 48% of runners trying to steal in 2016. Thats almost half…..half! Those caught stealing numbers did take a dip in 2017 though. He is also not exactly the OBP machine Sandy Alderson usually desires with a career number at just .301.
The Mets more than likely will go the in-house route with Plawecki, Nimo, and Lobaton, especially this early in the season. If I had to choose anyone though, I would love Perez. He is in my opinion the best catcher of the lot. You may be able to negotiate a bit with KC on a trade proposal because of his most recent injury and the beating he has taken behind the plate. That being said, he is the face of that franchise at this point which still may make it a tough trade to sell. As always, if you agree, disagree, or have something to add, Shea Something in the comments section.
Shea Something 