Name: Daiverson Gutierrez

Born: 09/11/2005 (Age 20 season in 2026)

Acquired: IFA, January 15, 2023 (Caracas, Venezuela)

2025 Stats: 91 G, 327 AB, .242/.362/.309, 79 H, 10 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 53 BB, 58 K, 6/10 SB, .279 BABIP (Single-A)

The Mets made Venezuelan catcher Daiverson Gutierrez their main priority once the 2023 international free agent signing period started and officially signed the backstop for $1.9 million dollars, roughly one-third of their $5.2 million dollar budget. Gutierrez was assigned to the Dominican Summer League for the 2023 season and appeared in 50 games combined with the DSL Mets Blue and the DSL Mets Orange, hitting a cumulative .186/.321/.244 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 2 stolen bases in as many attempts, and 22 walks to 36 strikeouts.

He started the 2024 season in the Dominican Summer League for a second year, this time with the DSL Mets Blue, but the results were like night and day thanks to mechanical changes made to his swing. Appearing in 14 games, the 18-year-old hit an impressive .300/.472/.475 with 7 doubles, 1 stolen base, and 7 walks to 5 strikeouts. He was sent stateside and assigned to the FCL Mets at the end of June and his time there was just as productive. In the span of roughly a month, from late June until late July, Gutierrez appeared in 15 games and hit .317/.463/.537 with 3 doubles and 2 home runs and drew 9 walks to 4 strikeouts.

Managing his workload, the Mets had the 18-year-old backstop sit for a while after the Florida Complex League season ended in late July but promoted him to Single-A St. Lucie at the end of August to give him a taste of full-season ball. Gutierrez was woefully underprepared thanks to his age and lack of organized competitive games and went 3-27 in 8 games with no extra base hits, no walks, and 9 strikeouts. The backstop was rostered with St. Lucie for the 2025 season and he spent the entirety of the season there. Appearing in 91 games, the 19-year-old hit .242/.362/.309 with 10 doubles, 4 home runs, 6 stolen bases in 10 attempts, and drew 53 walks to 58 strikeouts.

The Mets made major mechanical changes to Gutierrez’ swing in 2024. In 2023, he stood slightly open, with his hands held high and his bat wrapped behind his head almost perpendicular to the ground, crowding the plate. The organization had him open up a lot more, with his hands held high at eye level and his bat head angled at 1:30. Prior to the changes, he often planted his front foot down early, shifting his weight on his back foot during his swing. With his more exaggerated stance, Gutierrez is closing up his body while loading, making it easier to get his stride and front foot strike timing optimized. He still shifts his weight on his back foot during his swing with a scissor kick, but it is less pronounced and because of his more open stance, he has more plate coverage.

In 159 tracked batted ball events, Gutierrez recorded 12 balls put in play with exit velocities over 100 MPH and 36 with exit velocities over 95 MPH. Gutierrez’ strength is not his raw power, but his swing decisions. With the exception of his disastrous few games in Single-A in 2024, the backstop has never posted a walk rate lower than 10%. While doing that, he has never posted a strikeout rate higher than 17.1%, once again excluding his 27 Single-A plate appearances in 2024. In terms of what he swings at, he makes a bit more contact on pitches in the zone, with an 88% Z-Contact% compared to an 82.5 Florida State League average, but chases a few more out of the zone, with a 34.4% Chase% as compared to the league average of 29.2%. In terms of what he chooses to not swing at, Gutierrez’ selectivity has been roughly league average, but he has let far fewer favorable pitches go get past him, with a Hittable Pitch Take% of 27% as compared to the 2025 Florida State League average of 34.2%.

Gutierrez uses the entire field when he puts the ball in play, pulling the ball at a 50.2% rate, going back up the middle at a 24.2% rate, and going to the opposite field at a 25.6% rate. The backstop hit more balls in the air than on the ground, with a 24.3% line drive rate and 32.1% fly ball rate as compared to a 44.2% ground ball rate, but a low BABIP and a weak .067 ISO limited the amount of damage he was able to do on the balls that he did make contact with and put into play. At present, this may be due to the fact that Gutierrez has struggled against fastballs, hitting just .214 against them as opposed to .248 against non-fastballs. Whether or not he has the ability to improve against fastballs or simply has “slider bat speed” remains to be seen against a larger sample and more competition.

Behind the plate, Gutierrez is an extremely well-rounded catcher, whose defensive abilities are currently outpacing his offensive abilities. He possesses above-average arm strength, is a good receiver, and moves well to both sides of the plate while blocking the ball.

2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List