It is very clear that the New York Mets have a starting catcher, and his name is Wilson Ramos. The Venezuelan remains the most potent offensive force at the position, but his defense and framing at this point in his career have taken a step back.
That’s why the Mets backup catcher, Tomas Nido, has had opportunities to play. The 2020 season will likely not be an exception: Ramos will see the bulk of at-bats from the position, but Nido will also play more than a little bit.
After all, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, just to name a couple of Mets’ pitchers, haven’t been shy about saying they prefer to pitch to Nido and other backup options.
Nido has already shown the Mets that he can be a capable backup catcher. He does everything that a backup receiver should do: he handles his pitchers in a good way, he calls a fantastic game, he is a good framer (in the 74th percentile according to Statcast) and his pop time was in the 93rd percentile in 2019.
The Mets’ backup pending assignment
The remaining step for him to have an option at starting duties is, well, the bat. In 144 plate appearances with the Mets last season, he had a .191/.231/.316 slash line with 4 home runs. He had a very low 4.9 BB% and a below-average 25.7 K%.
Even if he wants to maintain his spot as the Mets’ backup catcher, he needs to improve his offensive production. To do that, he hired a swing coach during the offseason to help with his approach, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
“Just a better bat-path and hitting the ball to all directions of the field,†Nido said to the Post explaining the changes he intends to apply. “Not just slapping singles, kind of driving the ball into the gap and having a better chance of being successful and battling in at-bats.â€
Nido is currently out of minor league options. He will compete for backup duties with Rene Rivera. The New York Mets are sure hoping that Nido can improve offensively.