DENVER — Luis Torrens was behind the plate Wednesday night for the third straight game, and the New York Mets might look for more opportunities to start Torrens to capitalize on his defensive prowess.

In the two games in Colorado, Torrens has started at catcher with Francisco Alvarez at DH. The Mets plan to start Alvarez behind the plate Thursday with Juan Soto likely serving as the DH.

So far this season, though, Mets pitchers have performed notably better with Torrens behind the plate compared with Alvarez. These were the numbers entering Wednesday’s game in Denver.

Catcher ERA can be misleading. Kodai Senga’s numbers with Torrens are much better than with Alvarez, but that’s likely because his only start with Torrens was his first of the season.

The pitcher to watch here is David Peterson. The Mets remain firm in their belief Peterson can turn around a rough start to his season and become an integral part of the rotation, the way he was in 2024 and 2025. They’ve also noticed Peterson’s best outings so far this season have come with Torrens behind the plate rather than Alvarez.

The Mets pay attention not only to catcher ERA but also to peripheral statistics that either validate or undercut that number — things such as walk rate, hard-hit rate and first-pitch strike percentage. For Peterson this year, the difference in walk rate really stands out: Though he’s issued free passes more than 10 percent of the time while working with Alvarez, he hasn’t walked any of the 28 hitters he’s faced with Torrens. That is despite a lower first-pitch strike percentage with Torrens, though with Peterson in particular, first-pitch strikes weren’t necessarily a good thing earlier in the season.

Peterson’s better numbers with Torrens extend back into 2024. Since the Mets acquired Torrens, Peterson’s ERA with him is 3.20 compared with 4.50 with Alvarez.

That difference is especially pronounced if we narrow it down to Peterson’s starts since last season’s All-Star break, around the time when the lefty’s production started to dip. In that time, Peterson’s ERA with Torrens is 4.14 (in 41 1/3 innings) compared with a ghastly 8.31 with Alvarez (in 47 2/3 innings).

This year, Peterson’s pitch usage has been fundamentally different with Torrens. Take Peterson’s slider — a pitch he leaned on heavily in his outing Monday in Colorado. In his two outings with Torrens, 27 of Peterson’s 95 pitches to right-handed hitters have been sliders. With Alvarez, only 28 of his 304 pitches to righties have been sliders.

“I think it’s my best off-speed pitch,” Peterson said after his four innings Monday. “I’ve gone back and looked at the stuff, and there was some usage stuff I wasn’t happy with. I was using the curveball more than the slider, so we switched that today. I felt like it gave us a really good chance.”

Torrens gets passionate when talking about the nuances of calling games.

“Every day is a different approach,” he said before the game Wednesday. “The hitters show you something different in every outing, and you have your own plan before the game, but also during the game, you can read swings and see how they take pitches.

“I love it. That’s the fun part of calling games.”

“It felt like Luis and I were on the same page,” Peterson said. “What I was thinking, he was throwing down.”

That’s a difference from earlier this season when, after a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks with Alvarez behind the plate, Peterson said, “In my eyes, it’s more about usage than execution.”

Peterson’s next outing is slated for Sunday in Phoenix, either as a starter or behind an opener. Don’t be surprised if Torrens starts that day.