The Mets felt comfy sending Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse for a reset as a result of, partially, they trusted Luis Torrens to deal with the common catching assignments within the current.
However Saturday, through the Mets’ 5-2 loss to the Reds at Citi Area, a brutal gaffe by Torrens whereas he tried a back-pick at first base allowed one run to attain, positioned one other to cross the plate later within the third inning and instantly shifted the tenor of their second consecutive loss to Cincinnati.
“We’ve seen it at times where it’s kinda like a delayed pick to bases,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned. “It’s just, in that situation, it’s not the right decision, obviously.”
Torrens, for probably the most half, has been defensively sound this season, committing simply three errors coming into the sport whereas throwing out 13 of the 33 runners who’ve tried to steal a base towards him.
His bat has impressed at occasions and he went 2-for-3 with a stroll Saturday, however the defensive layers to the place have served as his staples.
After TJ Friedl faked a bunt with runners on first and second within the third, Torrens initially twisted like he was going to throw behind Noelvi Marte at first.
However he paused, waited one other second, then threw to second baseman Brett Baty, who was behind Marte close to first with Alonso charging on the potential bunt.
The ball snuck previous Baty and into proper area, although. Jake Fraley scored simply.
Marte scooted over to 3rd. And an early 2-0 lead for the Mets — which gave Clay Holmes some run help — evaporated one batter later when Mitch McLain singled to attain Marte.
The back-pick wasn’t a designed play the Mets had known as, Mendoza mentioned.
Torrens, a nice shock for the Mets after the Yankees dumped him for less than money concerns final 12 months, was by no means pegged as their full-time catcher.
Splitting time with Alvarez had simply as a lot to do with the 23-year-old struggling because it did with the 29-year-old maximizing his probabilities.
However with Torrens hitting simply .167 with a .451 OPS coming into Saturday within the full-time function since Alvarez went to Syracuse in late June, it may solely be a matter of time till the latter returns.
Mendoza mentioned beforehand that it may occur at any second, and that was earlier than Alvarez homered once more — his sixth prior to now 4 video games and eleventh in 17 Syracuse video games.
And when he returns, Torrens’ struggle for time behind the plate will begin once more.
Moments like his miscue actually received’t assist.
“We didn’t make a couple of plays,” Mendoza mentioned of the defensive errors. “We gave them extra bases, extra outs and it cost us.”
