Tomás Nido’s is set to start the season as one of the Mets’ two catchers

During the offseason, Tomás Nido’s remaining arbitration years got bought out by the Mets, as he signed a two-year, $3.7 million deal. This came after the team shipped James McCann to Baltimore following another dismal from their primary backstop.

Of course, the Mets have Francisco Álvarez waiting to take over those duties, but after only a few at-bats in the majors last season, the team is probably unwilling to hand the job to him right now. Mets general manager Billy Eppler already stated this spring that the team prefers to keep their top prospect at catcher instead of DH, so chances are he’ll get some time in the minors to start the season to continue to work on his defense.

That leaves Nido and Omar Narváez as the two catchers who will be on the roster come Opening Day. Nido hit just .239/.276/.324 with only three home runs and 28 RBIs last year. He is a career .220/.257/.323 hitter, and not a lot of offense is expected out of the 28-year-old. Steamer has him projected to hit .226/.269/.338 this season, but given the fact that the Mets haven’t gotten much offensive production out of its catchers in recent years, they can live with that.

Behind the palte, Nido has the reputation of being one of the top framers in the league and is solid defensively overall. He knows the pitching staff and can serve as a mentor to Álvarez this spring and in any time they share at the major league level. One of his challenges will be getting to know Kodai Senga and his ghost fork, which we know now is not a real ghost. Even with some new faces both in the rotation and in the bullpen, Nido has never given the team any cause for concern. He can handle an elite pitching staff, which the team hopes to have in 2023.