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Player Profile Links: Francisco Alvarez

Francisco Alvarez, Syracuse Mets, Photo by Herm Card - herm4444@gmail.com

Francisco Alvarez

Background, Stats, Videos.

Background:

Catcher, Bats Right, Throws Right, DOB 11/19/2001, 5'10", 233, Guatire, Venezuela. Signed by the New York Mets as an International free agent for $2.9 million on July 2, 2018.  Eligible for the December 2022 Rule 5 draft.

Early in Spring Training 2022, Francisco said that he wanted to make the Majors this year.  Most thought it was just a lofty goal.  He was slated to start 2022 at AA and maybe he'd get a call to AAA sometime in the year - but all the way to the Majors?  

Then, after the Syracuse season had ended, the Mets called up Francisco Alvarez to the Majors on September 30th...just in time for the big three game series against Atlanta.  He went 0 for 8 in that series but went 2 for 4 with a HR, double, 1 RBI, 2 walks in the final series against the Nationals.  

After struggling a little when he was first called up to Syracuse, and struggling with an ankle injury, Francisco was "red-hot" in September - .362/.483/.596 - 1.079 OPS - 3 HRs - 10 RBIs - 10 walks - 12 Ks in 47 At-Bats.

This Spring Training Billy Eppler gave an extensive interview with the press which the Mets YouTube channel posted the full session. When asked about Francisco Alvarez making the team he said: "if Francisco is on our club...if he makes our team or if he shows up, we want to make sure we can catch him because the long-term trajectory for this for this young man is to be able to catch and so we have to be able to to satisfy that up here...it would not be a pure DH situation"

Tim Healey Newsday: Mets' Francisco Alvarez got catcher-to-catcher advice from Cardinals icon Yadier Molina. "Molina...was the newbie manager of Navegantes del Magallanes, a team in [Venezuela]’s winter league. Alvarez, the Mets’ top prospect, was there to work out...'It was really the mental part of it. There was something that clicked with me there,' Alvarez said. 'It’s like, you have to be relaxed, you have to be calm when you’re at the plate and when you’re catching. I think that’s what stuck with me the most. That’s what will help me put it together more than the physical aspect.'"

Mike Puma NY Sports+ Behind the scenes of how the Mets are readying Francisco Alvarez to be their catcher of the future.  Mike spoke to full time catching instructor Glen Sherlock "'He’s very young, and right now we’re working on everything. But probably the biggest things we’re working on are his receiving, blocking and throwing...A lot of it is spending time talking to the pitchers...what we’re trying to do is encourage all of our catchers, not just Alvarez" (Subscription required)

SNY.TV: Mets' Buck Showalter discusses plan for Francisco Alvarez ahead of 2023 season. "Despite two veteran catchers in front of him, Showalter encouraged Alvarez to approach this spring with big league aspirations."

Mets.com: Here is MLB’s No. 1 prospect at each position. Catcher: Francisco Álvarez, Mets. "There likely isn’t another prospect in baseball with more power than Álvarez, who hit 24 homers as a teenager in A ball in 2021, then 27 more at age 20 at the upper Minor League levels last year before making his MLB debut for the Mets on Sept. 30. The Venezuelan backstop enters 2023 still only 21 years old with a Major League-ready bat, and if he continues to refine his work behind the plate, he has the potential to be a multi-time All-Star."

MLB.com: Here are all of our No. 1 overall prospects, ranked - Jonathan Mayo looks at all the past #1 rated prospects from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (ranked #1) to Shohei Ohtani (#2) to Mike Trout (#6) and ranks Francisco Alvarez #16 in this group who he says: "He deserves credit for being so good at such a young age, reaching Triple-A as a 20-year-old. Another positive in his column is position scarcity: His catching needs work, but he can stick there, and there aren’t many guys who can mash like him behind the plate. The other side of the coin is the fact that his defense is just so-so and he's not perceived to be a slam-dunk No. 1 guy."

From the Syracuse Mets Game Notes:

  • Began 2022 season with Double-A Binghamton…Promoted to Syracuse on July 4th -2022 w/BNG: 67G, .277, 47 RBIs, 18 HR, 2B: 16, 43 R, 36 BB, 71 K 
  • Top-ranked prospect in New York Mets organization, according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America 
  • MLB Pipeline ranks him as the sixth-best prospect in all of baseball 
  • Baseball America ranks him as baseball’s tenth-best prospect 
  • At the time of his call up, Álvarez ranked fourth in the Double-A Eastern League in home runs, sixth in RBIs, second with 34 extra-base hits, and fifth in on-base plus slugging percentage 
  • Named the organization’s 2021 Minor League Position Player of the Year 

Mets.com had some great articles about Francisco and his MLB call-up:

Mets to call up No. 1 prospect Francisco Álvarez (source)

Baseball's top prospect is 20, powerful and laser-focused - Anthony DiComo gives a tremendous amount of background information on Francisco starting with his Mom in Venezuela to Francisco's teammates in Syracuse. Great read.

What you need to know about Álvarez's debut

What to expect from Francisco Álvarez 

Last year, everyone either had Francisco as there #1 or #2 Mets prospect.  This year, everyone has him as their #1 - including MLB.com - as the #1 Prospect in all of MLB.

Mets.com has Francisco as the #1 Mets prospect. 

Sam Dykstra MiLB.com: "Pipeline Hitter of the Year - One thing that stood out to me about Álvarez last year, he had 22 homers at High-A in only 84 games. But he slugged significantly better away from High-A Brooklyn, which is an extreme pitchers' park. He slugged .607 there compared to .463 at home, an OPS above 1.000 there, his OPS at home was .763. Get him to Binghamton, get him to Syracuse, some of these fairer parks for hitters. I think Álvarez, on top of just another year of maturity, could really explode. I could easily see him hitting 25, 30 homers and having an OPS in that .900-1.000 range."

SNY.TV: had him at #1 saying: "He still needs work on his receiving and blocking skills, but the expectation is he will stick behind the plate long term with a strong throwing arm. He has legit All-Star potential".

His bat is MLB ready.  How about his defense?

Recently FanGraphs released their Top 30 Mets Prospects and they had this to say about Francisco's work behind the plate: "Defensively, Álvarez is a bit of a mixed bag. He receives on one knee with the bases empty but mixes his technique with runners on. His traditional crouch can be a little high and make it tough for him to get to the ground to block balls, which he often tries to do with his hands rather than his whole body, and he’ll cost you a base now and then because of this. Álvarez has plenty of arm strength, and has gotten better at starting to exit his crouch before the pitch has reached him, or just cutting it loose from his knees when that’s not feasible."

Last year I got the chance to talk to two people who saw Francisco play the most - Cyclones Manager Ed Blankmeyer and Cyclones Announcer Keith Raad -

Ed Blankmeyer: The Baby Bull? He’s a young guy that obviously has not yet played a played a full season.  He’s passionate - high energy guy.  He is wired differently in a good way – he’s 100 Miles per hour – all the time – I use the word pacing with him – not in a negative way – sometimes he has to back down a little bit – he’s a fire cracker- he’s ready to explode all the time – typical of a young guy – catching is a prime position – he no doubt has the skills – it’s learning his trade behind the plate – learning how to call a game which he is becoming a better game caller – his receiving has improved – his blocking has improved – his throwing – he has a good arm – but again he has to work at it.  Now his bat – like Ronnie [Mauricio] – the ball comes off his bat special...when people make mistakes and it’s in the zone – he can do damage..."

JFA: Who’s the most fun to be around? Keith Raad: "Francisco definitely…he’s a jokester.  He’s 19 but he’s such a great, fast learner with the language so he can talk to everybody.  He wants to speak everything in English.  I practice my Spanish just to talk to him.  He doesn’t want it.  He wants to talk in English.  He wants to learn how to relate to everybody.  He wants to handle all the pitchers in English.  Because he wants to soak everything up.  He wants to do everything in English...Francisco’s raw power.  I’ve never seen anything like that...He’s just an absolute man up there. He’s hitting balls 105 miles per hour up to 110, 112 off the bat and every single time he takes a swing – he swings with all his might, which is certainly going to go far no matter what and probably hit for his entire life. "

At the time of the signing, this is what SNY.TV had: “Alvarez is ‘one of the strongest players in the class,’ according to Baseball America. ‘He has a stout, blocky frame, although he moves surprising well underway for his size. Alvarez's swing starts with a small toe tap and he generates big raw power with an aggressive hack.’"

Baseball America recently wrote: Francisco Alvarez Has The Right Hitting Approach. "“For a young kid, he’s always displayed a good command of the strike zone,” [Mets assistant general manager at the time Allard] Baird said. “He’s got a very good approach in terms of it’s, ‘Yes, yes, yes, no, take.’ "He goes in there to hit. He’s not going in there to walk. He’s going in there with a very good, aggressive approach, but has the ability to make early recognition and if he doesn’t get his pitch will accept the walk.”

Prediction for 2023: Francisco has an elite bat and an elite work effort.  I think that means he will be on the Mets to start 2023.  The only thing that could send him to Syracuse to start the year is his defense  I think his work effort will fix that  I also think thIt is possible that he will split time at DH and catcher as he improves his defense   It is also possible his defense causes him to start 2023 in Syracuse but I think his work effor will show enough merit to keep him on the big league club all year 

FanGraphs:

HitGame PowerRaw PowerSpeedFieldFV
40 / 4050 / 6070 / 7045 / 3040 / 4560

Francisco Alvarez’s Baseball Savant page.    

Stats:

Hitting:

Register Batting
Year Age AgeDif Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2019172 Teams2 LgsRkNYM421821573249100726122137.312.407.510.9168004000
201917-3.5KingsportAPPYRkNYM35151131243760516111733.282.378.443.8205803000
201917-2.5MetsGULFRkNYM73126812402100144.462.548.8461.3952201000
2021192 Teams2 LgsA+-ANYM9940032767891812470855589.272.388.554.9411811211070
202119-3.9BrooklynHAEA+NYM8433327955691312258634082.247.351.538.889150108060
202119-2.4St. LucieLASEANYM15674812205021222157.417.567.6461.2133123010
2022202 Teams2 LgsAA-AAANYM1124954117410722027780070123.260.374.511.885210138063
202220-6.3SyracuseILAAANYM45199158313760931003452.234.382.443.8257045022
202220-3.8BinghamtonELAANYM6729625343701601847003671.277.368.553.92214093041
202220-8.6NYMNLMajNYM514123210110024.167.286.500.786610000
Majors (1 season)Majors514123210110024.167.286.500.786610000
Minors (3 seasons)Minors25310778951732455015817497146249.274.384.526.91147125230133
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/26/2023.


Fielding:

Register Fielding
Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/9 RF/G PB WP SB CS CS% lgCS% PO
2019172 Teams2 LgsRkNYMC2727229.02392062942.9839.248.701523928%
201917KingsportAPPYRkNYMC2323198.01961662642.9808.738.351422929%
201917MetsGULFRkNYMC4431.043403001.00012.4810.751100%
2021192 Teams2 LgsA+-ANYMC5959488.158253634125.97910.519.6614691922%
202119BrooklynHAEA+NYMC4949406.14644282884.98310.109.3113581723%
202119St. LucieLASEANYMC101082.0118108641.96612.5111.40111215%
2022202 Teams2 LgsAA-AAANYMC7977679.17797264492.98810.209.7510773129%
2022202 Teams2 LgsAAA-AANYMDH33330.0000000.00
202220SyracuseILAAANYMC3331280.03012762231.9909.589.037251538%
202220SyracuseILAAANYMDH12120.0000000.00
202220BinghamtonELAANYMC4646399.14784502261.98710.6410.263521624%
202220BinghamtonELAANYMDH21210.0000000.00
202220NYMNLMajNYMC2113.012120001.0008.316.00000
202220NYMNLMajNYMDH310.0000000.00
Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/9 RF/G PB WP SB CS CS% lgCS% PO
Majors (1 season)MajorsC2113.012120001.0008.316.00000
Minors (3 seasons)MinorsC1651631396.216001468107259.98410.159.55391695926%
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/26/2023.

Videos:

Francisco Alvarez recently spoke to MLB Network about his path to the big leagues.



New York Mets YouTube Channel: Francisco Alvarez addresses at MLB Call-up:



SNY On YouTube: Francisco Alvarez talks Futures Game and next steps.














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