In conjunction with releasing their top 100 prospects, Baseball America is now releasing prospect rankings for each position. For the catching position, Baseball America would rank two Mets prospects among the top 35 at the position.

Seventeen year old Francisco Alvarez was named the 28th best catching prospect even with him not having played a professional game. Alvarez was given a franchise record $2.7 million signing bonus when he was signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela this past July.

Alvarez is seen as a power hitting catcher who is more advanced at the plate than he is behind the plate. Defensively, he has the skill set to improve at the position with a strong arm and ability to move behind the plate.

In addition to ranking Alvarez, Baseball Reference would rank Tomas Nido as the 32nd best catching prospect in baseball.

Nido, 24, began the 2018 season as the starting catcher for Double-A Binghamton. He would also play six games for Triple-A Las Vegas hitting .272/.300/.431 with 20 doubles, a triple, five homers, and 31 RBI.

Due to injuries to Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki last year, Nido was pressed into Major League duty last year. In 34 MLB games, Nido hit .167/.200/.238 with three doubles, a homer, and nine RBI.

While the offensive results weren’t there, Nido showed himself to be a strong defensive catcher. In fact, according to Stat Corner, Nido was the seventh best pitch framer in the National League last year. Combine that with a strong arm and his receiving skills, and you have a catcher who is ready defensively to contribute in the majors in 2019.

Surveying the list, there were only four catching prospects ranked from NL East teams. With the Mets having half the catchers from that group and having other promising catching prospects like Ali Sanchez, the Mets catching future is looking bright.