Heading into the 2018 season, the New York Mets had a noticeable lack of depth at catcher. Aside from Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki – who were expected to share a majority of the playing time behind the plate – Tomas Nido was the only catcher in the system with major league experience. At that point in time, Nido had amassed just ten plate appearances at the big league level.
To remedy this shortfall, the club signed eight-year veteran Jose Lobaton to a minor league deal during the offseason and invited him to spring training.