Mets expect to improve on catching situation internally

The New York Mets don't need to shop around for catchers. They already have two.

While the names Travis d'Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki don't exactly put people on the edge of their seats, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said he'd rather focus on improving their two catchers instead of jumping the gun and bringing someone in.

"Right now, we have to figure out how to get what we have better," Alderson told reporters, according to Newsday's Marc Carig. "I think that’s our mindset at the moment."

To put it politely, the Mets' catching situation was bad in 2016. New York catchers ranked 14th in the National league with a dismal .607 OPS.

It doesn't help that d'Arnaud batted .247/.307/.323 with four homers in 75 games, while Plawecki was even worse at .197/.298/.265 with one home run in 48 games.

Still, Alderson believes the answer is from within.

"I talked about lengthening the lineup," Alderson said. "You can’t go into a National League season with your eight hitter hitting what essentially your nine hitter is hitting.

"But do we think we have the potential for improvement there? I think we do feel that way."