At this point, Francisco Alvarez can seemingly do no wrong.
The developing superstar catcher has been atop the list of reasons why the New York Mets have turned their 2024 season around since he returned from a thumb injury, riding a hot June from the doldrums to the thick of the National League postseason race.
One can make a relatively safe argument that the 23-year-old has been the Mets’ MVP all season but especially during this recent stretch of success in which his team has gone 15-4 since June 3 to get back to .500 (39-39) for the first time since May 7.
In the 14 games he has played since returning from the injured list on June 11, the Mets are 11-3. In the 30 games New York has had him available, it is 22-8. It is 17-29 without him.
Alvarez’s bat had initially been slow this season, but he was a difference-maker in the way he handled the pitching staff. Across 219 innings this season, Mets pitchers have a 2.71 ERA when Alvarez is behind the plate. With Luis Torrens, Omar Narvaez, and Tomas Nido, Mets pitchers had a 5.41 ERA this season.
During Wednesday night’s 12-2 win over the Yankees to sweep the Subway Series at Citi Field, Alvarez helped Sean Manaea navigate through heavy traffic created by five walks and two hits in five innings of work, allowing just a pair of runs.
It prompted manager Carlos Mendoza to call the young catcher “a leader” in a veteran-laden clubhouse thanks to “his ability to know the pitching staff and his presence in the dugout.”
“For a young player, he’s taken charge of the pitching staff,” Mendoza continued. “He’s got conviction. He’s a pretty good receiver and he shuts down the running game.”
What has made Alvarez such an unstoppable force of late, though is his bat, which has woken up to pace a red-hot offense. Over his last eight games, Alvarez is 15-for-his-last-27 (.556) with three home runs and nine RBI.
“I feel very good, very comfortable,” Alvarez said. “I like the way I feel right now. My mindset is that I want to win, I want to compete and when I’m competing, I feel confident.”
During Wednesday night’s blowout, he went 3-for-4 with three RBI which included a two-run home run off Yankees ace Luis Gil in the third inning in which he took a 98-mph fastball the opposite way to clear the right-field fence.
When asked if he saw someone else do that, Alvarez cracked “I’d feel he’s a great hitter.”
“It’s hard to do that but when you feel good, it’s not hard,” he added.
Everything must feel awfully easy for him, then.
