Mets send struggling Francisco Alvarez down to Triple-A: 'Best for him to go down there and get reps'

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Jun 22, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — Francisco Alvarez was once billed as the next Mike Piazza, a power-hitting catcher who could do it all at the dish and behind it. But in his third major league season, his development seems to have plateaued.

In a somewhat surprising move, the New York Mets sent Alvarez back to the minor leagues Sunday, optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse and calling up catcher Hayden Senger to take his spot. After a few weeks of catching mistakes and inconsistent offensive results, the Mets felt it best to give the 23-year-old Venezuelan a chance to regain his footing with Triple-A pitching and get some instruction in a more controlled atmosphere.

“Not an easy decision,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Sunday at Citizens Bank Park ahead of the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. “Something that we don’t take lightly when we’re making these decisions. We had extensive conversations, but in the end we decided that it was best for him to go down to Triple-A to play every day.”

The timing of the decision seemed curious to fans given that Alvarez went 2 for 5 with a home run in Saturday’s win. However, it was one game, and the homer came in the ninth inning when the Mets were already well ahead of the Phillies. In 11 games this month, he’s hit .238 with a .709 OPS. For the season, he’s hitting .223 with a .652 OPS.

While the numbers themselves aren’t exactly dismal, it’s not what the Mets expect from Alvarez. There has been some obvious regression in some areas.

“There’s a lot of potential there and when he’s playing up to his potential, he’s got a chance to be a pretty special player,” Mendoza said. “We’re going to need him and we expect him to be back. But right now, we feel like it’s best for him to go down there and get reps.”

After hitting 25 home runs as a rookie in 2023, Alvarez has struggled to repeat that feat. The backstop has never been a high-average hitter, but he’s always been able to hit the ball hard and crush left-handed pitching, but he hasn’t done that this year (.160 against left-handers).

“I felt like there were a couple of games where it was like, ‘OK, that’s what he’s supposed to look like,'” Mendoza said. “But then he’d go a couple of games where he’s late with the fastball, and then he chases. So just looking for consistency here. Even though we gave him a chance here, if you’re playing 3-4 games a week compared to having an opportunity to go play six, that’s how you’re going to get better.”

Last winter, Alvarez moved his offseason training from Miami to Atlanta, opting to go to the same facility as former Mets DH J.D. Martinez. At Maven Baseball Lab, Alvarez completely overhauled his swing, changing “everything.” The goal was to create a swing that would allow for more repeatable motion. He sought to improve his mechanics and his timing, trying to address a bad habit of transferring his weight to his front leg too soon in his swing.

However, a new swing takes time to develop and repetition to master. The Mets had planned to give him plenty of reps in spring training games, but he broke his hamate bone in March, which required surgery and rehab. It left him without the at-bats needed to implement those offseason swing adjustments.

“Not trying to make excuses for the kid, but he’s something that we also talked about,” Mendoza said.

To be clear, the Mets wanted him to work on specific mechanical issues over the offseason. They put together a plan for him that he took to Maven. It was the timing of the injury that was detrimental. While he was on the injured list, Luis Torrens emerged as a stronger catcher on both sides of the plate, and Senger was impressive defensively. Torrens didn’t perform as well offensively splitting time with Alvarez, but his expected numbers remain up this season.

“In reality, Louie continues to earn playing time,” Mendoza said. “So we’re getting to a point where it’s like 50-50 [playing time split]. Is that what’s best for Alvy? Probably not at this time.”

Alvarez improved his pop times and transfers this season, fixing a problem that has plagued him since he was in the minor leagues. But his framing and blocking haven’t been as strong this season. The Mets know they can call up Senger without losing anything defensively.

Alvarez wanted to make sure he would be playing every day in Triple-A, which the Mets assured him of. He took the news like a “professional,” doing more listening than talking. Player development isn’t linear, and that’s especially true for catchers. The club did what they thought would be best for a scuffling young player.

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