Things that are required for every major league spring training camp: optimism, managers claiming players are in the best shapes of their lives, and veteran catchers on minor league deals.
Michael Pérez’s contract was purchased by the Mets from the Pirates at the end of July last year and the Mets have re-signed the veteran catcher for the upcoming season.
Pérez made a surprising splash back in 2018 when he made his major league debut slashing .284/.304/.392 over 24 games. Over his five year career he has been a .174/.244/.301 hitter. Pérez even saw some action with the Mets last season, getting 16 plate appearances over six games (.143/.250/.143, 18 OPS+). His Baseball Savant page supports his hitting line. He was in the 20th percentile for max exit velocity and the 4th percentile for sprint speed. He also didn’t wow behind the plate either last year, ending in the 15th percentile for framing.
None of that is really the point for Pérez. He’s the emergency catcher in case something goes wrong. Last year the Mets had McCann and Nido splitting catching duty with Mazeika as the emergency catcher. At one point the Mets needed to call up Pérez before Álvarez was ready to make his major league debut.
Álvarez is much closer to being ready this year. In front of him is Nido and Narváez. So essentially right now Pérez is still around the same place on the depth chart, but the overall group of catchers in front of Pérez is stronger than the group last season.
Pérez will also be competing this spring with Nick Meyer and Hayden Senger, both are non-roster invitees to spring training for the second year in a row. Essentially Pérez is this year’s Patrick Mazeika and Pérez is a good example of how the whole roster feels stronger than it has in years past.
