The Mets introduced immediately that they’ve optioned catcher Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A. Catcher Hayden Senger was referred to as as much as take Alvarez’s spot on the lively roster.
Alvarez, 23, is within the midst of his fourth MLB season. He performed simply 5 video games within the majors in 2022, nevertheless, and entered the 2023 marketing campaign a consensus top-10 prospect in the complete sport. He hit a good .209/.284/.437 (97 wRC+) with 25 residence runs in 123 video games throughout that rookie marketing campaign whereas grading out as one of many sport’s greatest defensive catchers. It was a powerful sufficient displaying to make Alvarez a lock to function the Mets’ common catcher in 2024, however was sidelined by a hand harm that finally required him to bear surgical procedure on his thumb and miss practically two months. Alvarez was in a position to hit a good .237/.307/.403 (102 wRC+) final 12 months, roughly league common manufacturing regardless of a pointy decline in energy output.
Whereas Alvarez’s general offensive line was on par with expectations in 2024, there have been nonetheless causes for concern. His once-elite protection was simply common in 2024 as his blocking capacity went from common to the second percentile amongst qualifying catchers per Statcast. His pitch framing numbers additionally slipped barely, although they nonetheless remained elite. Along with the step again defensively, Alvarez’s energy outage final 12 months led underlying metrics to evaluate his efficiency on the plate extra harshly final 12 months; his xwOBA dropped from .305 in 2023 to simply .289 in 2024 regardless of his wOBA remaining regular at .310 throughout each seasons.
2025 began out on a familiarly robust word for Alvarez, as he missed the beginning of the season as a consequence of surgical procedure on his left hand—this time to restore a fractured hamate bone. Since making his season debut on April 25, Alvarez has hit simply .236/.319/.333 with a wRC+ of 91. That’s not horrible for the requirements of the catcher place, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a far cry from the roughly league common manufacturing he had posted for his profession coming into this 12 months. He’s additionally hitting for even much less energy than final 12 months, with simply three residence runs and three doubles in 35 video games. An 8.2% barrel fee means that could be as a consequence of some lackluster batted ball luck, however additional steps backward defensively aren’t as simple to dismiss.
Alvarez has remained beneath common as a blocker behind the plate after final 12 months’s tough displaying, and he’s now develop into one of many worst framing catchers within the league after that was his robust go well with in his profession previous to this season. Whereas he’s stayed considerably useful by throwing out opposing base runners at an elite fee, Alvarez has fallen off to the purpose of turning into a median to beneath common catcher general primarily based on his numbers this 12 months. Between his offense trending downward and his uncharacteristically lackluster protection behind the plate, the Mets clearly felt it was time to ship him to the minors for a reset.
It’s an indication of urgency for a membership that just lately misplaced seven consecutive video games earlier than snapping that dropping streak with a win over the Phillies final evening. The Mets are in a statistical tie with Philadelphia for the NL East title for the time being, which places a premium on wins as they appear to rebuild their lead within the division and put the membership’s entrance workplace in place to purchase extra aggressively on the commerce deadline this summer time. Whereas the very best model of the Mets entails Alvarez within the lineup frequently, although Luis Torrens has proven himself to be deserving of an everyday position within the short-term with robust defensive grades and an 89 wRC+ that’s not too far off of Alvarez’s personal determine this 12 months.
Within the quick time period, it appears Senger shall be tasked with backing up Torrens. The 28-year-old made his MLB debut earlier this 12 months and has hit .179/.207/.214 (18 wRC+) in 29 plate appearances throughout 13 video games within the majors. Long run, there’s little query that Alvarez will return to the majors with the membership and rejoin Torrens as a part of the membership’s catching tandem. The Athletic’s Will Sammon reviews that the Mets are happy with their catching tandem at this level and that they aren’t anticipated to enter commerce season available in the market for catching assist.
