Francisco Alvarez’s bat is cooking, and the Mets are noticing.
The catcher had hit six home runs in his previous four games with Triple-A Syracuse by Saturday night and is consistently showing progress in his defensive skills, as noted by manager Carlos Mendoza. This stint in the minors remains indefinite.
In contrast to when the Mets sent Luisangel Acuña to Syracuse last month with a clear plan for his return after 40-50 at-bats, Mendoza mentioned there’s no similar timetable set for Alvarez, who was reassigned on June 22.
“[Alvarez] needs to go down there and play, and then we’ll make a decision when we have to,” Mendoza stated before the Mets faced a 5-2 defeat against the Reds at Citi Field.
Alvarez’s surge at Syracuse has occurred as the Mets are receiving little offensively from Luis Torrens, who has assumed the everyday catching duties.
Torrens began the day with a .593 OPS, before going 2-for-3 with a walk.
But the Mets want to ensure the 23-year-old Alvarez is ready before recalling him.
“We’ve been seeing the power, obviously, the way he is driving the baseball to all fields,” Mendoza said. “But the defense, the reports we’re continuing to get are pretty impressive. The receiving, the blocking, everything we’re asking him to do he continues to make improvement on.”
Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts in his season debut.
The left-hander missed the previous 14 months after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
“Your typical Brooks Raley outing,” Mendoza said. “The sweeper was good, with a lot of movement, got the lefties and the righties, so it was good to see him back out there.”
Mendoza opened his pregame session with reporters by acknowledging David Wright, whose No. 5 was retired by the organization.
“A special career, obviously, but what a special human,” said Mendoza, who has gotten to know the former third baseman during spring training the past two seasons. “One of the highlights for me was meeting David last year in spring training and just the humble, the quality of the person, it was pretty incredible.”
