Francisco Alvarez has officially been called up by the Mets, and as for what the top prospect’s role will be with the team while Omar Narvaez recovers from a calf strain, Buck Showalter told reporters before Friday’s home opener that nothing is set in stone.
“We'll see how that evolves,” Showalter said. “We're lucky to have a guy like Tomás [Nido] who we're very comfortable with. We’ll see how it evolves. Kind of a day-to-day thing…certainly, Francisco will get some playing time.”
It seems like Nido will be the starting catcher and Alvarez will back him up, leading to a potential dilemma in which the team’s promising youngster isn’t getting the consistent playing time necessary to continue his development. Showalter says the onus will be on putting the best team on the field, but that backing up Nido will still help Alvarez develop.
“Very heavily weighted towards winning games, and I think he can help us with that,” Showalter said. “So hopefully both happen. It's kind of like a backup quarterback that gets drafted out of college. Everybody knows he's going to be a really good player, but the time he spends as a backup is very valuable too.”
Nido leaves a lot to be desired offensively, while Alvarez carries loads of potential with his bat, but the team has wanted him to improve his defense behind the plate. Many Mets fans want Alvarez to be the starter to get a glimpse at the future, but Showalter remains steadfast in his support of Nido.
“Tomás is pretty good, OK?” Showalter said. “He does a great job for us.”
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