MMN’s own Michael Mayer reports New York Mets top prospect Francisco Álvarez will travel to join the team at Citi Field ahead of the Mets home opener.

Álvarez is traveling because Omar Narváez was removed from the Mets April 5 game against the Milwaukee Brewers with a calf injury. Currently, Narváez is day-to-day, and he said the decision was precautionary.

Álvarez, Narváez, and Tomás Nido are the only three catchers on the Mets 40 man roster. If the Mets were going to call up a catcher other than Álvarez, they would need to make a roster move.

Álvarez has been hot at the plate to start the season starting all four games behind the plate. He has a 1.056 OPS with two homers.

It should also be noted he’s been difficult to steal against so far this year. So far, he had thrown out three of the five attempted base stealers.

This is an important note because part of the justification for having Álvarez start the year with Triple-A Syracuse was to work on his defense.

In Álvarez’s absence, Syracuse will have Michael Perez and Nick Meyer at the ready. Meyer has not appeared in a game this season. Perez started at catcher in Syracuse’s April 2 game against the Worcester Red Sox. He was 0-for-4.

In the event the Mets need to activate Álvarez, it is likely that he is going to play at least semi-regularly. It will be interesting to see if he gets more chances as a catcher or DH.

As it stands now, Álvarez is the only healthy player from MLB Pipeline’s top seven prospects entering the season still playing in Triple-A. Depending on how Narváez feels on Friday, Álvarez could join those other top prospects in the majors.