Coming off a 2024 season that can only be described as the dreaded sophomore slump, New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has spent this offseason revamping his offensive approach.
“I’m working on a lot of things with my hitting,” Alvarez said at the Mets’ “Amazin’ Day” on Saturday at Citi Field. “Everything. In spring training, I’m going to keep working on that. I changed a lot of things. I’m going to have more plate discipline, and I’m going to have better numbers, too.”
At this point, it feels like there is nowhere else to go but up for the 23-year-old catcher. Battling a thumb injury that needed surgery early last year, Alvarez batted .237 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI, and a .710 OPS in 100 games. While the average improved from a paltry .209 in 2023, his power production decreased from 25 home runs in his rookie season, and his strikeout rate still sat at a swollen 27.9%.
Streakiness has been a part of his game. When he is hot, he is one of the better offensive catchers in the game.
In a 20-game stretch last year from June 17 to July 10, he batted .391 with a 1.152 OPS, three home runs, and 13 RBI, but he followed that up with a 43-game slump headlined by a .165 average with two home runs and eight RBI. In the final 15 games of the season, he hit five of his 11 home runs with 16 RBI and a 1.000 OPS.
Consistency is key, and Alvarez has to limit the length of the lows that are his slumps because if Pete Alonso does not return to the Mets’ lineup in 2025, he could be a key cog moving forward.
Alvarez’s rookie successes two years ago suggested that this could be a player who can flirt with 30 home runs annually. That notion is still on the table, considering he is just 23 years old and nowhere near his prime yet.
Even a fraction of his production from the final 15 games of last season would make the young catcher an anchor in the middle of the lineup and a talent that lengthens the Mets’ attack.
Without Alonso, there is one more power-hitting threat needed to round out an impressive-looking top-of-the-order featuring Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Mark Vientos.
Current projections without Alonso in the lineup have either Brandon Nimmo or Jesse Winker in the cleanup spot. While Nimmo has unlocked new levels of power with 24 and 23 home runs in the last two seasons, his best work is as a high on-base option that could be utilized at the very top or the very bottom of the lineup. Winker has only eclipsed the 20-home-run mark once in his career (24 in 2021) and holds a 162-game average of 20 round-trippers.
If president of baseball operations David Stearns ultimately nixes a reunion with Alonso once and for all and opts not to go outside of the organization for another power bat, Alvarez is left with a prime opportunity to establish himself as a legitimate cleanup hitter for at least 2025, if not longer.
