When Francisco Alvarez plays, the New York Mets win.
The young catcher is back in the fold after recovering from a thumb injury that held him out for seven weeks and it has directly coincided with his team’s return to success.
In his last 14 complete games played, the Mets are 13-1.
In his last 18 appearances, the Mets are 17-1.
In Alvarez’s 23 games this season entering Tuesday night’s middle game down in Texas against the Rangers, the Mets are 17-6. Without him, they are 17-31 — headlined by a miserable 9-19 May that relegated New York to as much as 11 games under .500.
But since the 22-year-old’s return from the injured list on June 11, the Mets are 6-1 even with his offensive numbers lacking. Alvarez is batting .142 (2-for-14) before breaking out with a 3-for-5, two RBI night in New York’s dominating 14-2 victory over the Rangers on Monday. On the season, though, he’s batting .243 with a notable absence of power (one home run, 12 RBI, .620 OPS this season).
The lack of offensive production should not be worrisome. At least, that is what history suggests for a hitter who has shown a knack for being incredibly streaky throughout his young career.
In his first 23 games last season, he was batting .217 with a .652 OPS, three home runs, and six RBI. He followed that up by hitting nine home runs with 19 RBI to go with a 1.074 OPS in his next 20 games, indicating that a boon is coming. Perhaps Monday night was the start of it.
So what is making Alvarez such an invaluable part of the Mets’ success?
It is his prowess behind the plate, which was considered the massive inhibitor just two years ago keeping him from being an everyday MLB player. His framing remains near the top of the league, per Baseball Savant, but it is his ability to call a game and work with the Mets’ pitching staff that makes the largest difference.
In 21 games (160.0 innings) in which Alvarez has caught, Mets pitchers have a sterling 2.14 ERA this season. The same staff has a 4.43 ERA when working with backup catcher Luis Torrens and had a 4.31 ERA with Omar Narvaez and a 5.16 ERA with Tomas Nido. Each of the latter two were DFA’d by the club.
“I really missed him a lot. He’s amazing. Great energy. He always brings good things, good ideas,” starting pitcher Jose Quintana told reporters last week (h/t SNY) about what sets Alvarez apart. “He’s amazing. he’s really special and I love him. When I see him, he has that kind of instinct behind the plate… He’s always on top of the game. You never see that that often in the game.”
To better understand just how well Alvarez controls his pitchers, the Mets have allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of the 17 games in which he has caught at least nine innings (58.8%). Across the other 54 games this season, New York has allowed three or fewer runs just 18 times (33.3%).
