The New York Mets bolster their catcher depth by acquiring Rortvedt from the Dodgers' waiver list.

The New York Mets have recently enhanced their catcher depth by picking up Ben Rortvedt, a member of last year’s World Series-winning team, from the Dodgers’ waiver list.

The Dodgers designated Rortvedt for assignment last week because of limited space on their 40-man roster. His time with the Dodgers was brief; late last season, during starting catcher Will Smith’s recovery from a hairline fracture in his right hand, Rortvedt was promoted to the majors and appeared in 18 games. Before Smith’s return, Rortvedt started the first four playoff games, recording 3 hits in 7 at-bats, but then remained on the bench for the rest of the postseason.

This marks a clear improvement compared to his early season performance with the Rays, where he hit just .152 over 44 games with a .205 OPS. The left-handed hitter has a career MLB OPS of .549 over 227 games but boasts a .740 OPS at the Triple-A level.

Defensively, Statcast rates Rortvedt as a catcher with above-average receiving skills but overall average defensive ability.

At Mets spring training, Rortvedt provides an additional layer of depth behind Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens, who are very likely to be the only two catchers on the Opening Day roster. The Mets’ spring camp also includes four other catchers, among them defensive specialist Hayden Senger and former Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes.