ATLANTA — One night time after Francisco Alvarez took a lot of the blame for the Mets’ 10-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves, the backstop was out of the lineup, changed by Luis Torrens. Nonetheless, this isn’t precisely a shocking choice. The Mets boast two excellent catchers who can hit, block, body and handle a pitching workers.
“I’ve been saying it, they both want to play,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned Wednesday at Truist Park. “Alvie will play, Louie will play, and we just thought today was a good day for Louie to be in the lineup.”
Nonetheless, it’s no secret that Alvarez hasn’t essentially produced as anticipated this season. Now in his third main league season, he modified his swing and was injured in spring coaching, then when he returned, he didn’t put up the gaudy numbers the Mets as soon as predicted he would put up again when he was a highly-rated prospect.
A pitcher’s mother even went as far as to say her son pitches higher when Torrens catches him in a social media put up.
After two choices he made in Tuesday night time’s loss didn’t repay, followers took to social media to recommend demoting him to Triple-A. It didn’t assist that he went 0-for-3 with a stroll. It’s straightforward to sit down again and play armchair basic supervisor from residence, however the Mets are those doing the tough work making an attempt to additional develop their gamers on the big-league stage.
Alvarez remains to be solely 23, however since that is his third 12 months within the massive leagues, there may be an expectation that he could be kind of, effectively developed, by now. It’s truthful to query his growth, however the studying by no means actually stops.
That’s what the Mets hope he takes from the loss Tuesday.
“That’s Alvy, he’s going to take responsibility when situations like that happen,” Mendoza mentioned. “But I thought Reed Garrett took responsibility too. At the end of the day, we didn’t execute, so you turn the page and you learn from it. That’s the thing. You keep having these conversations, our pitching coaches will have those conversations, and then, like I said, we learn from it and move on.”
Alvarez and Garrett disagreed on a pitch to Marcell Ozuna within the eighth-inning, with the bases loaded and the slugger on a 2-2 rely. Garrett wished to throw a fastball; Alvarez referred to as for a splitter, seeing how Ozuna swung on the one proper earlier than that.
Ozuna lined the splitter to left area to clear the bases. The Mets blew a three-run lead and went on to lose in 10 innings.
“I don’t think it’s the wrong pitch; I don’t think it’s the right pitch,” Garrett mentioned. “We have plenty of other options. I just think that if it was executed just down a little bit more, it could have been a ground ball, or we could have been a little bit luckier, because he got it off the barrel and did a good job keeping it fair. It’s a good hitter.”
Garrett trusted Alvarez as a result of the catcher has given him no cause to not belief him. Pitchers like throwing to him, and customarily have since he was a rookie. The Mets pitching workers fought for him to remain within the massive leagues in 2023 when it seemed as if he must return to Triple-A in a roster crunch.
Alvarez apologized to Garrett after the inning, however Garrett had his catcher’s again.
“I think Alvy has done a great job calling pitches, and I think that he’s a great catcher, and I think that’s kind of the ownership that I need to take with calling my own pitches,” Garrett mentioned. “I form of stepped off [the mound] and made a unique name. However like I mentioned, I don’t suppose it’s the fallacious pitch. I imply, he referred to as an incredible recreation with [left-handed starter David Peterson]. My pitchcom wasn’t working earlier in that at-bat and he was calling nice pitches there…
“We’re on the same page, but I just felt like I could have just maybe executed a little bit [better]. That’s the bottom line.”
Alvarez’s defensive metrics have been largely good, although his framing numbers have gone down this season. Nonetheless, he’s been incredible on the subject of throwing out runners, with among the best pop occasions in baseball.
On the plate, it’s been a blended bag. He’s nonetheless hitting the ball exhausting and he’s drawing extra walks than in seasons previous, however he’s struggled to seek out the correct timing with the fastball, hitting simply .235 with a .313 slugging proportion and a .636 OPS. Based on Statcast, he’s anticipated to slug .365 this season.
Alvarez doesn’t essentially must be a power-hitter as a catcher. The potential appeared to be there after he hit 25 homers as a rookie, and the power is definitely there, however if he turns into a well-rounded, solid-hitting catcher, it will likely be a win.
If not, the Mets will probably be confronted with extra questions on their dealing with of a participant they way back deemed a star.
“I do know he’s working and it hasn’t been easy for him,” Mendoza mentioned. “But the one thing with Alvy, he’s very positive. He’ll continually grind through it.”
