NEW YORK -- Though he spent many summers of his youth traveling to Florida for baseball leagues, Tomas Nido did not permanently move from Puerto Rico until his junior year of high school. It was there, at Orangewood Christian High School outside Orlando, that Nido developed into an eighth-round Draft pick and top-10 prospect of the Mets.
Nido made his big league debut in September but, unlike most of his new teammates, did not return home for good at season's end. Instead, Nido traveled onward to the Arizona Fall League, appearing in 13 games at catcher for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
"Baseball's a lot harder these days than it was back in high school, but being on the same team, you see how hard he works and how much he's dedicated to being the best player he can be," said David Thompson, Nido's roommate this summer at Double-A Binghamton. "I love Tomas. I think everybody does."

It was one year ago when Nido made his most significant jump as a professional, batting .320 with seven home runs and an .816 OPS in 90 games for Class A Advanced St. Lucie. That earned Nido a promotion to Binghamton, a spot in the 2017 SiriusXM Futures Game in Miami and an invitation to the AFL, typically the haunt of some of baseball's best prospects.
Although Nido took a step back offensively in 2017, posting a .641 OPS in Binghamton and a .577 mark for the Scorpions, he has earned accolades for his throwing and receiving skills.
"He made a lot of good adjustments last year, and I think he's still adjusting," Mets director of player development Ian Levin said earlier this year. "Double-A is a more difficult level. It's a big jump going from [Class] A ball to Double-A, and he has definitely shown signs that he can be a very good Major League player. He's still going through his development process."

Nido isn't likely to make the Mets out of Spring Training, with Travis d'Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki penciled in as the team's primary catchers. But with a strong spring, he could position himself to be a significant contributor at some point next summer -- particularly considering d'Arnaud's injury history and Plawecki's inconsistencies.
For now, Nido can at least fall back on his brief Major League experience, which included a 3-for-10 performance in five games (two starts) down the stretch for the Mets.
"I think the first two or three days, it really didn't sink in," Nido said. "I was still numb. Even when I got my first hit, I didn't even remember running to first base. It was everything I dreamed of and more. It was worth everything I did to get there."