Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets decided to designate Tomás Nido for assignment on Monday afternoon. With Omar Narváez’s return of the injured list looming, the organization had to make a decision between moving Francisco Álvarez or Nido. The Mets have decided to go with the later, opting for the Álvarez/Narváez tandem moving forward.
Catcher Omar Narváez has been returned from his rehabilitation assignment and was reinstatement from the IL, and catcher Tomás Nido was designated for assignment.
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 5, 2023
Nido had his season interrupted by a stint on the injured list at the beginning of May, suffering from dry eye syndrome. The 29-year-old returned from a rehab assignment on May 25, making his first start six days later at home against the Philadelphia Phillies. Nido was just 1-for-5 with two strikeouts in his two starts since returning, but that was not enough to convince the Mets to keep him on the roster.
The former eighth-round pick of the Mets in the 2018 draft was unable to produce at the plate in his limited opportunities, slashing .125/.153/.125 with no home runs, one run batted in and a -21 OPS+. His playing time began to decrease as Álvarez started to find his rhythm, only getting to start once or twice at week at most. Nido only made 18 starts in 2023, accumulating a total of 61 plate appearances during that time.
Focus will shift towards Narváez, who has not appeared in a big league game for the Mets since April 5 due to a left calf strain. The catcher signed a one-year, $8 million deal, with a player option for $7 million in 2024 over the winter. Now that Narváez will be back, it will be interesting to see how often he is in the lineup. Like many of the position players, Álvarez is experiencing a bit of a rough patch, hitting .130 with a total of seven strikeouts over his last seven games.
