With the Mets currently thin at the catcher position, the team has inked Ali Sánchez to a minor league deal. The move gives the club some depth at backstop while they wait to see if Francisco Alvarez will be able to return to action from his latest thumb injury.
The Mets had originally signed Sánchez as an international free agent in 2013, and he spent the first few years of his career in the team’s system. He made his major league debut in 2020 and played five games for the club, though no fan would
have been present to see it happen. In that time, he contributed one hit in nine at-bats, meaning he still has more career hits as a Met than Jed Lowrie. He also walked once and struck out three times. He had four at-bats with the Cardinals in 2021, and did not play in the majors in 2022 or 2023 before resurfacing with the Marlins in 2024. There, he had his most major league action to date, picking up 14 hits in 84 at-bats.
The 28-year-old has split this season between the Blue Jays and Red Sox. He picked up five hits in 21 at-bats for Toronto before being claimed by Boston, and lined out in his lone at bat for the Red Sox before the Mets signed him. A lot has been made of the team’s need to add a catcher, as Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger are the only backstops on the 40-man roster with Alvarez on the IL. There was a scary moment with Torrens on Wednesday when he was struck by a bat during a catcher’s interference play, which resulted in the trainers looking extensively at his glove hand. He remained in the game, but sat out yesterday in favor of Senger.
