Rene Rivera randomly came on the scene, a big reason being a veteran presence around the young catchers that the Mets had at the top of the food chain. When Travis d’Arnaud went down in 2016, the minor league Rivera came up and has quickly become an essential part of what the Mets are trying to do.
He quickly formed a camaraderie as Noah Syndergaard‘s go-to catcher, even when d’Arnaud came back. He might have only hit .222, but that was in 185 at bats. Those 41 hits seriously counted.