The New York Mets just gave Luis Torrens an extension, and now he's going to get more playing time.
The New York Mets are looking to add playing time for backup catcher Luis Torrens, which is an unusual move to say the least. The Mets have been waiting for Francisco Alvarez to break out and become a force behind the dish, but the simple fact is that Torrens’ defensive splits are far better than those of Alvarez, according to a breakdown by Tim Britton of The Athletic.
There’s a big difference in the sample size, of course as Alvarez has caught 222-1/3 innings behind the plate, while Torrens has 92-2/3. But the ERA difference is stark: 4.70 for Alvareza, 2.04 for Torrens.
The pitcher to watch here in particular, according to Britton, is David Peterson. The Mets think Peterson can still turn around his season after a rough start, and he’s performed far better when Torrens is catching him.
The Mets also value underlying metrics as part of their catcher evaluation process, and this is where there’s a noticeable difference in Peterson’s walk rate depending on who’s catching him. It’s over ten percent with Alvarez, but Peterson hasn’t walked anyone when Torrens is his catcher.
His pitch-use pattern has been different with Torrens as well. Peterson throws far more sliders when Torrens is behind the plate, which aligns with his thought process about how to approach hitters.
“I think it’s my best off-speed pitch,” Peterson said after his successful four innings Monday. “I’ve gone back and looked at the stuff, and there was some usage stuff I wasn’t happy with. I was using the curveball more than the slider, so we switched that today. I felt like it gave us a really good chance.
"It felt like Luis and I were on the same page. What I was thinking, he was throwing down."
On a broader level, this development and the numbers behind it represent some ongoing disappointment with Alvarez’s development. He was expected to be a force behind the plate after his breakout year in 2023, when Alvarez hit 25 home runs to go with 63 RBIs. Alvarez shows flashes from time to time, but he’s still not giving the Mets the consistent production they were hoping for this year.
Which is important given that his defensive lapses are noticeable. You don’t have to be an expert to see how sloppy Alvarez’s mechanics are at times, and some of his passed balls and errant throws surface at the worst possible times. There’s a reason the Mets are doing this with Torrens, and part of it is to light a fire under Alvarez once again and show him that playing time has to be earned.