New York Mets: Tomas Nido is a good choice at catcher

The New York Mets have lost Kevin Plawecki to a hairline fracture, and now their catcher situation is in flux. They should start Tomas Nido during the time Plawecki is out.

The New York Mets are in dire circumstance, as they have lost both of their catchers that began the season on the 25-man roster. Now there’s one question: Who is the best replacement?

Some are already suggesting J.T. Realmuto, the Marlins catcher who is currently on the disabled list. However, that’s going to cost the Mets a lot of talent from the farm, and they may be reluctant to give up their future.

Another problem exists too. There aren’t a lot of answers that are currently free agents. This is where not signing a catcher during the winter becomes a problem. Plawecki could’ve started the season in the minors, but the Mets chose to go with a Plawecki-d’Arnaud rotation behind the plate. Now that the injury bug has hit both backstops, there’s one option within the organization — Tomas Nido.

Nido isn’t a terrible option at catcher for the Mets. Plawecki was hitting seventh or eighth, and Nido has a career slash line in the minors of .261/.305/.372 with 107 extra-base hits (25 home runs) and 198 RBI. He should be able to fill in admirably at the bottom of the order.

The most important thing would be defense. With a .984 overall fielding percentage and a caught stealing percentage of 41.4 in 2017 between Binghamton and Scottsdale, Nido isn’t a complete liability behind the plate.

Even though d’Arnaud is out for the season, the person they put behind the plate now would merely be a placeholder until Plawecki returns, so they don’t have to sign someone to be an answer for the entirety of 2018.

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MLB Pipeline lists Nido as the ninth-best prospect in the New York Mets organization, so it’s about time to give him a shot. Let’s see what he can do and he might shine. He might just be the catcher of the future.