PHILADELPHIA — The New York Mets demoted struggling catcher Francisco Alvarez, one of the organization’s most important young players, to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, the club announced.
For weeks, club officials weighed the delicacy of such a decision, monitoring the situation for improvement. Sending Alvarez, 23, down to the minors for the first time since spring 2023 might be a blow to his confidence at a time when he needs to build on some. But for the club, the move became necessary.
“It’s not an easy decision — it’s something that we do not take lightly,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “There’s a lot of potential there. When he’s playing up to his potential, he’s got a chance to be a pretty special player. And we’re going to need him. Expect him to be back. But right now, we feel like it’s best for him to go down there and get reps.”
There was no clear tipping point for the call. Both Alvarez’s offense and defense led to the demotion. He is capable of better production on both sides, and the Mets want to see improvement.
Mendoza attributed the timing of the move to Alvarez’s lack of consistency. Too often, he was late on fastballs or missing other pitches. Thus, it didn’t matter that Alvarez hit a 452-foot home run in the ninth inning of the Mets’ lopsided win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. Generally speaking, the Mets’ front office tries to avoid making reactionary decisions. The move was coming.
Alvarez’s demotion allows Luis Torrens to assume a full-time role. Torrens is a standout defender and deserves the job. He handles the pitching staff exceedingly well and deters other teams from stealing bases. His .232/.309/.344 slash line is in line with his career averages. Through April, when Torrens filled in admirably while Alvarez was on the injured list with a broken hamate bone, the veteran backstop delivered a respectable .712 OPS from a position the Mets shouldn’t need much offense from, at least in theory.
With Francisco Alvarez heading to Triple-A Syracuse, Luis Torrens is now the Mets’ full-time catcher. (Harry How / Getty Images)
Hayden Senger, who showed Mets officials and rival evaluators in April that he could be a decent backup catcher, replaced Alvarez on the roster.
The Mets are comfortable with their catching tandem, people familiar with the situation said, and league sources do not anticipate their jumping into the catcher market at this time.
It’s unknown how long Alvarez will stay in the minors. The Mets need him to play every day there and figure things out. They are a better team if Alvarez is playing up to his potential.
Most surprisingly, Alvarez hasn’t hit. More specifically, he hasn’t showcased any power, the tool he was known for ever since the Mets signed him to a large bonus as an international prospect in 2018. In 138 plate appearances this season, he is slashing just .236/.319/.333. He hit a home run Saturday. It was his third home run this season.
As a 21-year-old rookie in 2023, Alvarez hit 25 home runs. The power might still be there. He hasn’t displayed much of any since then, though.
After Alvarez struggled last season, he decided to overhaul his swing in the winter. He wanted to cover more of the plate and use the entire field. A hamate fracture in spring training derailed Alvarez’s opportunity to work through those changes at a time when the games didn’t mean anything.
Mendoza said he is still confident Alvarez’s changes will eventually work out in the major leagues.
“We’ve seen some signs,” Mendoza said, “but we gotta see it on a consistent basis.”
Defensively, Alvarez has shown signs of regression. He has struggled to block balls in the dirt and corral errant pitches. Saturday, he couldn’t reel in a wild pitch that led to a run.
“Everything,” Mendoza said when asked where he wants Alvarez to improve the most defensively. “The receiving. The blocking. I feel like he has gotten better with his changes in throwing guys out. But I feel like the receiving and the blocking is probably an area that we want to see some improvement. And obviously, he has to play.”
Mendoza categorized the discussion with Alvarez as “very professional.”
“He did a lot of listening,” Mendoza said.
After taking in the news and directives, Alvarez followed up by saying, per Mendoza, that he wanted to make sure he was playing. Mendoza said he assured Alvarez there was a plan in place involving the Triple-A coaching staff and coordinators.
With the Mets looking like a serious contender, they felt they could not wait longer for Alvarez to attempt to figure things out at the major-league level. On an individual level, Alvarez was at the point where he was going to lose more time to Torrens, which wouldn’t have been ideal for his growth as a young player. It was time to take action.
(Top photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
