Despite a 2-for-5 night, including a ninth-inning home run, against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, Francisco Alvarez just hasn't had the consistency — both offensively and defensively — that the Mets were hoping for from the young catcher this season.
After news broke on Sunday afternoon that Alvarez was sent down to Triple-A, manager Carlos Mendoza explained the team's reasoning behind their difficult decision.
"The consistency," the skipper said. "There were stretches where we felt, I felt like a couple of games where okay that’s what it’s supposed to look like. But then he’ll go a couple of games where he’s late with the fastball and then he chases, so just looking for consistency here."
Mendoza went on to say that having Alvarez not play every day while splitting time with Luis Torrens this season wasn't helping the 23-year-old's development.
"When you’re playing, even though we gave him a chance, if you’re playing 3-4 games a week compared to having an opportunity to play six (games a week), that’s how you’re gonna get better," Mendoza said. "In reality, Luis is continuing to earn playing time so we’re getting to a point where like 50/50 and that’s what’s best for Alvy? Probably not at this time, so that’s why."
Obviously the decision to demote a player that was regarded as a top prospect, has shown he's capable of playing in the majors and has so much potential at still such a young age wasn't easy and came after "extensive conversations."
At the end of the day, New York believes the decision will benefit Alvarez and the Mets in the long run and they fully expect the catcher to return at some point after working on what he needs to work on.
"We decided it was best for him to go down in Triple-A, play everyday, work on whether it’s the offense, defense, just in general," Mendoza said. "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. And we’re gonna need him. We expect him to be back, but right now we feel like it’s best for him to go down there and get reps."
Not only has Alvarez's offense been a disappointment this season as he's slashing .236/.319/.333 with just six extra-base hits, his defense has taken a step backwards as well, especially in regards to blocking pitches — a passed ball in Saturday night's game led to a run.
To his credit, Alvarez took the news well but couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Very professional — he listened, very respectful," Mendoza said. "Obviously frustrated because when you’re in the big leagues and you get sent back down you don’t wanna hear that… it’s part of the process, part of the business."
Some of Alvarez's struggles, particularly offensively, can surely be attributed to his hamate bone fracture (his second hand injury in two years) he suffered in camp which caused him to miss most of spring training and a chunk of the regular season.
Not only can an injury like that take a toll on a player, especially a catcher, but in Alvarez's case the missed time didn't allow him the appropriate time to work on the offseason adjustments he made with his swing — adjustments that Mendoza called "legit." Instead, he'd been trying to do it on the fly in the majors which isn't easy for any player, let alone a 23-year-old.
"You’re going through a major adjustment, you’re gonna need (at-bats) and that’s what spring training is for," Mendoza said. "And the goal when he reported was like ‘hey, we’re gonna try and get you as many at-bats as possible before we break camp’ and then unfortunately he went down. So, not trying to make excuses for the kid, but it’s something that we also talk about."
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