It didn’t take long for Francisco Alavrez to reestablish his presence in the Mets’ lineup with a clutch hit. He only needed five at-bats, to be exact.
In his second game since returning from the injured list, the slugging catcher delivered some opportune power on Saturday, smacking a two-run home run that served as the Mets’ only offense in a 2-0 road win over the division-rival Nationals.
Blame the lineup’s lack of rhythm on the weather, as the afternoon at Nationals Park featured two rain delays that irked fans in attendance and at home. What mattered was the pop from Alvarez, who’s hoping to prove that his surgically-repaired left hand is fully healed and overall approach at the plate yields the long ball.
“It means a lot. I’ve worked a lot on my hitting, on all facets of my game,” Alvarez said of his homer after the win. “To be able to have a day like today means a lot because I put a lot into my game as a player.”
The two-run blast from Alvarez came in the second inning, facing Nationals starter Brad Lord. With two outs and Jesse Winker on first, the 23-year-old jumped on a high 0-1 slider and watched it slice down the right field line and land inside the bullpen near the foul pole. The homer turned out to be ample support for the Mets’ pitching staff.
Only time will tell how long it’ll take Alvarez to once again find his groove as a lineup fixture. The Mets are obviously hoping that the young backstop resembles more of his 2023 rookie self, who produced 25 homers and 12 doubles across 382 at-bats. They have reason to believe that his 2024 power outage was largely due to an early-season thumb injury.
“When he’s able to hit a ball out like that, pretty impressive,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Alvarez. “Off the bat, I didn’t think that ball was going to go, and it just kept going. He’s got the ability to use the whole field and drive the ball with authority. That’s what makes him a special player.”
Kranick answers the call… again
When the Mets were forced to pull Edwin Diaz due to a hip injury in Thurday’s extra-inning win over the Phillies, Max Kranick played the role of hero in relief by registering two huge outs in a 10th-inning jam. So, naturally, he was thrust into a similar emergency situation on Saturday.
This time when the bullpen phone rang for Kranick, he took over for A.J. Minter, who exited with one out in the eighth with a tricep injury. Once again, the chaotic moment didn’t faze him — after allowing a walk, he induced a strikeout and popout to collect his second hold this season.
It’s been an impressive April for the 27-year-old right-hander, who didn’t see any big league action during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Kranick now owns a 2.70 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 16.2 innings, and Mendoza is thrilled with the confidence and composure he’s seeing from him during high-leverage moments.
“That’s back-to-back [games] now where he has to come in and warm up on the game mound. That’s not easy to do,” Mendoza said. “He continues to attack, make pitches, get outs. He’s been solid for us… Calm, poise, confidence. There’s a lot to like. The more he pitches out of the roles, the more he continues to get outs… He knows he’s got elite stuff.”
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