New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has been a pleasant surprise in an otherwise rocky season for the organization.
The offense has struggled to consistently score runs at times, and that, combined with some pitching depth woes, has resulted in a mediocre 44-50 record and fourth place in the NL East as of Wednesday afternoon.
Alvarez, however, has done his part to keep the offense afloat.
He is slashing a cool .242/.303/.534 with 19 home runs and a 128 wRC+.
The wRC+ stat allows us to evaluate offensive performance and compare it with the league-average output, which is 100.
It means Alvarez has been 28 percent better than the league-average hitter, and that’s huge for a catcher.
A big part of why he has been such an effective batter is his power.
Those 19 home runs are enough to lead the catcher rankings in MLB, according to SNY.
Top of the class. pic.twitter.com/YfKmLQbEgo
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 19, 2023
Alvarez has more home runs than MVP candidate Sean Murphy and his countryman Salvador Perez.
The scariest part of it all is that he is just 21.
That’s right: he is one of the youngest players in MLB and he is already one of the top hitting catchers.
Imagine the upside he has in total stats when he retires if he keeps playing at this pace.
And, of course, there is also the chance that, being so young, he has more room to improve.
Alvarez has been every bit the star he was anticipated to be during his prospect days, and the Mets are happy because he is a big part of their core.
As long as he is healthy, the Mets will have a chance to turn things around.
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