James McCann earned a 40 million deal with the Mets due to his offensive and defensive breakout. With his 54 wRC+ and very poor framing numbers, he’s just not that player right now.

With all the injuries the Mets are experiencing, they can’t wait for McCann any longer. To their credit, they don’t seem to be anymore.

For the past two games and for three out of the last four, Tomas Nido has gotten the start. In those two starts, he’s rewarded them with a three hit game and a game winning homer:

? C L U T C H ?@tnido24 | #LGM pic.twitter.com/gd4N3gSf51

— New York Mets (@Mets) May 19, 2021

So far, Nido has done more than that. So far this year, Nido has a 142 wRC+. Believe it or not, that’s good for fourth best on the team. If he had enough plate appearances to qualify, Nido would rank as the top offensive catcher in the game.

That may come as a surprise, but perhaps, it shouldn’t. Since last year, Nido is hitting .276/.344/.552. We’ve seen him undergo Lasix surgery after early career struggles, and as noted by Justin Toscano of nj.com, Nido worked with Lorenzo Garmendia before the 2020 season.

While it’s still too small of a reliable sample size, we are seeing the same impact Garmendia had on J.D. Martinez with Nido. More than that, considering all we’ve seen this year, it’s incumbent on the Mets to ride this out to see how real it is.

That goes double when you look at Nido’s framing. In fact, according to Baseball Savant, he’s one of the best in the game. It’s way too early to say this, but if this continues, there really needs to be a discussion about Nido being one of the best in the game.

Before that happens, he’s got to play more. Right now, that’s happening. That’s good because he’s earned the playing time, and frankly, McCann has always been his best while splitting time behind the plate.

Whatever the reason, Nido has arguably been the Mets top performing player. It’s gotten him more starts recently. If it continues, it may very well end with him getting the starting job.