What manager Carlos Mendoza called “a good problem to have” is still one that needs to be navigated.
The Mets have a former top prospect in all of baseball at catcher, one with high upside who has been solid defensively but has not hit much yet this season.
They also have one of the better backups in baseball who has played like one of the better catchers in baseball this year, with a better than expected bat complementing standout ability to nail base stealers.
For the first time since Francisco Alvarez returned from the injured list on April 25, he has been out of the starting lineup for consecutive games.
Luis Torrens’ play demanded another start Sunday, when he caught Kodai Senga and reinforced that the Mets no longer have a regular catcher, instead employing a timeshare.
“Both [are] going to play,” Mendoza said before the Mets finished a series against the Dodgers at Citi Field.
Torrens has not wrested away the everyday job — Mendoza said there was “a really good chance” that Alvarez would return behind the plate for Monday’s series opener against the White Sox — but the work allotment has begun to shift enough that Mendoza felt obligated to talk with Alvarez on Saturday night.
According to Mendoza, Alvarez — who has looked like the future of the Mets catching position essentially since signing out of Venezuela in 2018 — took the back-to-back benchings in stride.
“Whatever the team needs, I’ll be ready to go,” was Alvarez’s response, according to Mendoza. “Whenever you need me, I’ll be ready.”
So far this year, Torrens has been the better option.
The 29-year-old journeyman, whom the Mets picked up from the Yankees in what seemed like a minor trade a year ago this month, has been the best catcher in MLB at throwing out runners, entering play 7-for-13 in cutting down base stealers, and has been one of the more consistent hitters in an inconsistent lineup.
Despite generally sporadic playing time, Torrens began play hitting .276 with a .788 OPS.
He had put his bat on the ball, having walked 10 times and struck out just 19, and had been an anomaly in the clutch for an unclutch club: His .318 batting average with runners in scoring position entered the night the second best on the team.
The 23-year-old Alvarez might be the future, but Torrens has proven he should at least be a regular part of the present.
“When you got two guys that you feel really good about your chances, regardless of who’s playing, I think that’s … a very good problem to have,” Mendoza said. “So it’s a luxury.”
It would be a bigger luxury if Alvarez’s bat were ensuring he remains in the lineup.
After breaking his hamate bone in camp and missing the first month of the season, Alvarez has been hot and cold in his first 20 games of the season — and increasingly chilly recently.
Entering play, the big swinger was in a 2-for-25 slump in his past eight games.
A player who had launched 25 homers in 2023, his age-21 season, regressed last year (.710 OPS with 11 homers in 100 games) and had begun this season poorly, his strikeouts up and power (just one homer) down.
It is possible that Alvarez is still figuring out a swing that he revamped in the offseason.
It is also possible that he is still getting adjusted in his first weeks of play after surgery.
He is young, and there is time for him to take steps.
But with a lineup that hasn’t been hitting, Torrens has made a strong case to receive at least a good share of the playing time.
“They’re both going to play,” Mendoza reiterated. “I just thought today was a good day for Luis to go back-to-back.”
