The Mets still don’t have a clean answer at catcher, but Luis Torrens has made his case loud and clear. Francisco Alvarez has shown flashes of the player he was supposed to be, yet injuries and shaky defense have kept the position in flux. Torrens, meanwhile, has squeezed everything he can out of his chances and has put himself in position to matter more in 2027.
What makes Torrens so valuable starts with the glove. “Run prevention” may be a phrase Mets fans would rather not hear after the way it aged before the error-filled 2026 season, but Torrens has backed it up with real results. He is one of three Gold Glove finalists for the Mets and sits near the top of just about every defensive metric.
One number jumps off the page: a 33 percent caught-stealing rate. In an era shaped by the pitch clock and pickoff rules, catcher defense is harder than ever to measure in simple terms, but Torrens has been putting runners in the dirt at a level that stands out. The gap between him and Alvarez is especially stark when it comes to blocks above average, where Torrens is in the 85th percentile at 5 while Alvarez sits at -13.
That difference matters for pitchers, and the results have shown it. Mets pitchers posted a 3.74 ERA with Torrens catching, compared with a 4.54 ERA when Alvarez was behind the plate, according to Michael Baron of Just Mets.
For a Mets staff that projects to be young in 2027, that kind of stability behind the plate carries real weight. Right now, Torrens looks like the best option to provide it.
The bat is not the selling point, but Torrens has a habit of showing up in the biggest moments. In May during the Subway Series, he delivered a pinch-hit two-run double in the sixth inning to trim the Yankees’ lead to two runs, and the Mets went on to finish the comeback in ten innings.
He also handles runners in scoring position well. In 65 at-bats this season, Torrens hit .277 with a .874 OPS. That doesn’t turn him into an offensive force, but in a game short on productive hitting catchers, he isn’t just along for the ride.
There is at least some evidence that more offense could still be there. Back in 2021, Torrens played 108 games, the most he has ever appeared in during a season with the Mets, and hit 15 home runs with a .730 OPS.
For comparison, Alvarez hit 16 home runs with a .710 OPS in 113 games this season. If Torrens can recover even part of the pop he showed with the Mariners, it becomes a lot tougher to label him a backup in name only.
The contract situation only adds to the argument. In May, the Mets gave Torrens a two-year extension worth $11.5 million, with $4.75 million owed in 2027 and $6.75 million in 2028. That is a real investment, not the kind of money you hand out to someone you plan to use sparingly.
None of that means Torrens should start simply because of the paycheck. But when you stack up the defense, the timely hitting, and the salary, keeping him under 100 games a year starts to look like a wasted opportunity. He has also stayed relatively healthy, especially when compared with Alvarez, and could bring some much-needed steadiness to the position if the Mets let him do more.
There’s even a path where Alvarez benefits from a lighter load, splitting time between catcher and DH. At 24, he already carries the injury history of a much older player, and that kind of wear only becomes more concerning as time goes on.
However the Mets sort it out, Torrens has earned a bigger seat at the table in 2027. The fact that David Stearns chose to keep him around before the contract runs out suggests the front office may already be thinking the same thing.
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