Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez's maturity belies his birth certificate
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez prepares to catch a bullpen session during a spring training baseball workout Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: AP/Jeff Roberson
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.
This was supposed to be Francisco Alvarez’s rookie season, according to the Mets’ original timetable for the team’s top prospect a year ago. And even that probably was a best-case scenario.
It’s why the Mets signed veteran catcher Omar Narvaez to a two-year, $15 million deal, installing him as a placeholder until Alvarez was ready to be promoted.
Turns out, the Mets ripped up that blueprint a few weeks into last season. The job has belonged to Alvarez ever since, thanks to his stunning power and surprising aptitude behind the plate.
Alvarez essentially fast-tracked himself to the majors when Narvaez’s April calf strain opened the door, and despite a somewhat uneven rookie season — his record-setting 25 homers were accompanied by a .209 batting average and .284 on-base percentage — he’s rightfully considered a major asset at age 22.
As the Mets evaluate their next generation of prospects, many invited to major-league camp for the first time, Alvarez’s launch along the learning curve stands out as one of those unexpected success stories at the sport’s most demanding position. Not every youngster is capable of handling such a rushed entry to the bigs and dealing with the inevitable frustrations that follow.
But Alvarez made good on the promise of his awe-inspiring power and drew positive reviews from last year’s veteran pitching staff, including a pair of three-time Cy Young Award winners in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, along with Kodai Senga, a Japanese ace still learning the ropes himself at the major-league level.
Alvarez already carries himself like a 10-year veteran. Not in a cocky way, but someone who knows where he’s going.
Another example was Sunday’s group interview with the media, a session that Alvarez chose to do without an interpreter for the first time. While the Spanish-speaking Alvarez could always communicate in English to some degree, stepping up in front of the TV cameras in your second language, with more than a dozen porters tracking reevery word, requires a significant belief in your abilities, too.
Not only that, but Alvarez knows the right thing to say. When someone asked him if he is thinking about how many home runs he will hit this season, he deftly replied, “How many games I can win.”
The Mets couldn’t have scripted the answer any better themselves. But that’s hardly surprising coming from Alvarez, who’s been a quick learner since arriving in Port St. Lucie a year ago.
Now that education needs to continue if he is to avoid any sort of a sophomore slump. He has a new staff to work with and his lethal bat won’t sneak up on opposing pitchers anymore. Year 2 is all about the adjustments, and that also goes for having a new manager, Carlos Mendoza, a fellow Venezuelan.
Mendoza stressed the diligence of maintaining Alvarez’s health over a long season — obviously load management is a priority these days — but that’s much easier to do with a 22-year-old catcher than a 30-something backstop. Alvarez played in 108 games behind the plate last year, a solid number to build on as the Mets look to press their advantage of instant offense from the catching position.
“This guy can help you win a game in so many different ways,” Mendoza said. “And those things are going to be part of the conversations — how is he performing, but also what is the balance? Even if he’s performing really well, we’re playing the long game here.”
Alvarez somehow avoided the injured list last season despite the typical bumps and bruises that are part of a catcher’s job description. That level of toughness is a tool of sorts, but nagging injuries can hinder abilities at the plate, often without them becoming public knowledge.
It’s the mental side of the game, however, that Alvarez was more concerned about during his rookie season. When asked what he improved on the most, he didn’t mention anything specifically related to his skills.
“My mind,” he said. “Because in the minor leagues, sometimes when I was playing, my mind wasn’t 100% in the game. Last year, I learned that I have to put my mind in 100% of the time. I can’t be thinking about my family. I can’t be thinking about other stuff. I have to be thinking about the game every day.”
Basically, Alvarez was saying he had to get better at eliminating distractions, which tend to be an early hurdle for any player. But what people most remember is the number of times he cleared the outfield wall last season and the spectacular distances of some of those blasts.
Alvarez’s 467-foot home run was the 10th-longest homer in the majors, and his average distance of 409 feet was tied with Marcell Ozuna and Bryce Harper, one foot farther than Aaron Judge.
Alvarez’s 25 homers were the most for a catcher his age, passing Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. That’s prestigious company to keep, but his goals for this season are more team-centric.
“I want to be in the playoffs,” he said. “That’s what I want this year.”
Sure beats Triple-A Syracuse, which is where Alvarez was ticketed for last February.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
