Gary Sánchez. Photo via Syracuse Mets

According to Andy Martino of SNY, the New York Mets are calling up catcher Gary Sánchez from Triple-A Syracuse. Sánchez, 30, was signed by the Mets to a minor league deal earlier this month after a brief stint in the San Francisco Giants organization. It was previously reported he would make $1.5 million along with a potential $1.2 million in incentives if added to big league roster.

Prior to his agreement with the Mets, Sánchez had a slow start to the season with Triple-A Sacramento. He batted .164/.319/.182 in 69 plate appearances with an uncharacteristic zero home runs. However, his performance drastically increased when he arrived at Triple-A Syracuse, as he batted .318/.531/.546 in 32 plate appearances with one home run.

While he does not have any MLB experience to his name this season, he did play for the Minnesota Twins last year. Overall, he batted .205/.282/.377 with 16 home runs in 128 games played. One glaring issue among these statistics is his 28.9% strikeout rate. Consequently, these numbers have been consistent over the years as Sánchez has batted .195/.287/.394 with an 89 wRC+ since 2020.

The corresponding move for Sánchez’s promotion has not been announced yet. However, it is likely that catcher Michael Pérez will be the victim of his arrival. In two games with the team this season, Pérez went 4-for-7 while making an impressive defensive play in Thursday’s game against the Rays to pick off a runner on first base. While Pérez performed well in his small sample, the urgency of Sánchez’s contract opt-out deadline was likely the driving force in his sudden promotion.

With the promotion of Sánchez, the Mets will soon be faced with a logjam at the catcher position. It was recently reported that catcher Omar Narváez will be going on a rehab assignment later next week as he recovers from his calf injury that he suffered earlier in the season. He will have a guaranteed spot on the team when he returns since the Mets acquired him as a free agent this past offseason.

The other factor in this complicated equation is catcher Tomás Nido. As of now, he is currently on the IL due to dry eye syndrome. However, it was recently reported by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com that Nido is making great strides in his recovery due to a procedure that dramatically improved his vision. Although his return will likely be a few weeks away, it seems that the Mets will eventually have four players that will be competing for two spots.

The other player in this scenario is rookie catcher Francisco Álvarez. While the Mets could demote him to Triple-A, that wouldn’t make much sense given his recent success in the majors. One possibility to keep an additional catcher on the roster is factoring them into the designated hitter equation. With the recent struggles of Daniel Vogelbach, this scenario is becoming more likely to happen.

All that said, Sánchez would certainly benefit from making a good first impression with the Mets as his time with the club may be limited. If he can tap into his ability to hit home runs, the Mets will be faced with a very difficult decision to make when Narváez and Nido return from their respective injuries.