The New York Mets are one of the best teams in baseball.
They are currently leading the NL East division with a 98-58 record.
That doesn’t mean, however, that they don’t have any weaknesses.
They haven’t gotten good production out of the designated hitter spot all year long.
Dom Smith hasn’t developed as expected, and trade acquisition Darin Ruf has been monumentally bad in Queens.
The team, as a result, had to think outside the box and look for internal solutions.
They reached the conclusion that calling up top prospect Francisco Alvarez was the way to go.
“The Mets will call up Francisco Alvarez on Friday, per source. Alvarez — a 20-year-old catcher — is @MLBPipeline‘s No. 1 overall prospect in baseball. @DanielAlvarezEE was first with the news,” MLB insider Mark Feinsand tweeted.
The Mets will call up Francisco Alvarez on Friday, per source. Alvarez — a 20-year-old catcher — is @MLBPipeline's No. 1 overall prospect in baseball. @DanielAlvarezEE was first with the news.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) September 30, 2022
That certainly qualifies as a surprise given Alvarez’s age and lack of experience at the Triple-A level.
He Is Extraordinarily Talented
However, he is so talented as a hitter that he could make a surprisingly seamless transition to the bigs.
After a bit of a slow start in Triple-A, Alvarez is slashing .234/.382/.443 in 199 plate appearances, with nine home runs.
He previously played at Double-A, where he hit 18 additional round-trippers to give him a solid 27 for the season.
His bat and plate discipline are advanced for his age: despite some swing and miss issues, he is very adept at getting on base via walks.
For now, Alvarez figures to play a lot against left-handed pitchers, mostly out of the designated hitter spot.
In case you missed it, that’s the role for which they brought in Ruf, but he hasn’t been able to produce.
The Mets hope that, despite his obvious youth, Alvarez can perform like a seasoned pro and lift the Mets to the division title.
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