WASHINGTON — Carlos Mendoza recounted his day as a starting catcher as if a highlight reel was being pieced together in his head.
“Two home runs. One went the other way and one went up the middle,” the Mets manager began. “A throw to second base. Just a great game.”
“Overall, it was a pretty good game.”
In just his fourth game of the season and his 22nd major league game since 2022, Luis Torrens has done it all and continues to show his new team something.
Torrens, who joined the team in a trade with the Yankees on Friday to replace Omar Narvaez, hit two major league home runs, his first since Oct. 5, 2022, in Wednesday’s 9-1 win at Nationals Park.
The 28-year-old had a difficult time hitting for the Mariners and Cubs last season, bouncing around between them before signing a minor league contract with the Yankees before this season.
The Mets need a trade, and Torrens may be looking to seize that opportunity.
He hit two spectacular home runs, the first a solo one in the third inning and the second a missile home run that sparked a six-run smash in the sixth inning.
It had been a long time since I’d been able to jog around the bases of a major league team.
“It was really good. It was really good. I was really excited,” said Torrens, who hit 15 home runs with Seattle in 2021. “The most important thing is we won.”
He helped secure the victory in other ways too.
In the fifth inning, Jesse Winker was caught attempting to steal for the second straight day on a strike to second base, tying Narvaez for the number of runners he had been caught stealing all season.
Torrens also did some good play-by-play work for Luis Severino, who he knew as a former Yankees farm player in the mid-2010s.
“I used to beat him at ping pong when I was younger,” Severino said with a laugh. “We followed the plan.”
If Francisco Alvarez returns as scheduled next week, the Mets will have to choose between Torrens and Tomas Nido.
Both have hitting ability and neither has any minor league options remaining.
On Wednesday, the decision got even more interesting.
“This is a great opportunity,” Torrens said. “I’m very grateful to be here as a member of the New York Mets and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunity.”
