Johnny

Monell

Monell was removed from the 40-man roster when the Giants claimed Jose De Paula off waivers from the Padres. The 27-year-old had one hit in eight at-bats this past season. He batted .275/.364/.494 in 415 at-bats with 20 home runs for Triple-A Fresno as well.

The 27-year-old Monell hit .275/.364/.494 as Triple-A Fresno’s starting catcher last season, but defense behind the plate has held him back. While the Orioles could consider carrying him as Matt Wieters’ backup, they’ll likely continue to look at alternatives.

The 27-year-old backstop who was acquired last season as part of the Scott Feldman trade, mashed the ball to the tune of .325/.401/.468 with five homers and 24 RBI in 44 games at Triple-A in 2013. As the roster is currently constructed, his only competition for the backup job will come from Johnny Monell, who was acquired from the Giants in late November.

Monell spent the entire 2016 season at Triple-A Las Vegas (Mets), batting .276/.336/.470 with 19 home runs and 75 RBI in 113 games. Maybe the 30-year-old catcher can score a big-league backup job leading into 2017.

Cotillo says Monell initially had a deal with the NC Dinos before it fell through. The 30-year-old got cups of coffee in the majors in 2013 and 2015 but spent all of 2016 at Triple-A in the Mets organization, batting .276/.336/.470 with 19 homers.

Monell will serve as depth for the Mets while Travis d’Arnaud recovers from a left elbow injury. Kevin Plawecki should draw the majority of the starts at catcher.

With the injuries that the Mets are facing elsewhere, there is simply no room on the active roster to continue carrying a third catcher. The 29-year-old went 1-for-15 (.067) with four strikeouts while appearing in 11 games for the Mets.

Neither the Mets nor the Giants seemed very interested in scoring runs after eight innings, but perhaps Monell just wanted to go home. Finishing 1-for-4, he doubled in a pair of runs off of Santiago Casilla to break a scoreless tie. He later came around to score on a Juan Lagares single. Monell had accrued an RBI in only one of his other 20 games this season, back on May 10 against the Phillies. He’s batting an unimpressive .189/.250/.243 with four RBI.

Monell struggled with the bat in his limited time with the Mets this season, slashing just .178/.245/.222 in 45 at-bats. He’ll continue to function as organizational catching depth.

It’s simply a day of rest. Johnny Monell is getting his first career start at catcher with Plawecki on the bench.