Tom Brennan - Is Francisco Alvarez Ready? And Jordany Ventura and Andinson Ferrer

Gary Seagren, one of our most astute readers (and our readers are all astute, for the record) raises a good point, about Alvarez.  That Nido is not throwing dudes out.  So why not bring Alvarez up?

First of all, who do we have now?  Tomas Nido has hit better in 2022, but he still does not hit well.  No one will mistake him at the plate for, say, Mike Piazza.

Alvarez, meanwhile, hits like a raging beast.  After a 10 for 69 early season skid, he has hit roughly .350 over the past 33 games and has 11 HRs over the past 22 games.

And in his career, Alvarez has 698 official ABs, and has 44 doubles, 46 HRs, and 137 RBIs. 

(Juan Soto had more than 100 fewer at bats when he made his MLB debut).

Back to Nido....he has thrown out just 1 of 20 runners.  If Nido was strong behind the plate and also nailing 40% of base stealers, I'd say the gap defensively between him and Alvarez is big, and leave well enough alone. 

Alvarez, for the record, has nailed just 13 of 56 this year.  But people act as if the mantra that he needs to improve defensively hasn't already been heeded by Alvarez.  He is much better on D.  His passed ball and error rate are way down from last year.   And Binghamton co-catcher Hayden Senger has nailed just 5 of 38 this year, vs. 18 of 56 last year, so the Bingo pitchers may just be doing a terrible job of holding guys on.  The video I've seen of Alvarez shows me he has a gun for an arm.

Meanwhile, as I highlighted the other day, Mr. Expensive, James McCann, has hit .188 with 2 HRs in his last 175 at bats back to 2021.  Through his first two days in rehab, he hit 1 for 9, with 7 Ks.  He may have hit well with the Chi Sox, but he might be in decline.  What I am hoping is his hand injury was a long-running issue, and now, post-surgery, he will snap back into form.  But he is 32, and 32 year old catchers sometimes are in the midst of rapid decline.  Time will tell on Sweet Baby James.

Wilson Ramos hit over .300 at age 31; hit very well for the Mets at age 32; hit much less well at age 33; and hit much less well than that at age 34.  At his current age (almost) 35, be is out of baseball.  Catchers age fast, most of the time.  Wilson got to be so slow, if his team would have played a 3 hour game, but he got on base 3 times, it would become a 4 hour game due to his running. (He had 1 career stolen base, as a Met, in a career spanning 990 games, but I digress....)

Is Alvarez ready?  Maybe - or maybe not quite yet.  I say yes, but no one listens to me, even though I am right all the time.

After his scorching recent hitting, I'd have promoted him to AAA after Sunday's game.  Forget the AA All Star game.  Challenge him.  Because, as much as we hope McCann/Nido will become a force, that tandem may continue to sputter, while "calling a good game."  And, keep in mind, McCann has thrown out just 21 of 75 runners since becoming a Met.  He is still a better defensive catcher than Alvarez, but the gap is closing.

If the Mets tandem sputters, and Alvarez continues to soar, I'd like the see the Mets have 2 Franciscos in the line-up by August 1.  

Because, as everyone knows, not only are two heads better than one...two Franciscos are better than one. 

Mets' catchers, after having the worst RBI production in baseball in 2021, have just 23 RBIs in 67 games and a .207 average in 2022.   The third, so-far unmentioned member (Patrick Mazeika) is a AAAA guy with the bat.  He is .189/.239/.272 as a major leaguer, not acceptable.

The answer to that catcher hitting malaise is:

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ

Thankfully, we have someone named Francisco Alvarez in the system.  

Our other 2 best other catchers in the minors (Senger and Meyer) are not particularly good hitter or run producers.  Senger has 8 RBIs in 140 ABs this year, and a mere 22 in 364 ABs this year and last.  Meyer just had 5 RBIs Saturday, boosting him to 15 in 108 at bats; he is a passable offensive guy, hitting .240 with a .340 OBP and .330 slug % and modest 33 RBIs in 327 ABs this year and last.  

Alvarez numbers vastly exceed theirs.  He is a beast, they are human.

I could see a tandem of Alvarez and Meyer down the road.  Meyer seems to have some Jerry Grote in him.  

But even he has just thrown out 9 of 44 this season.  Looking at the CS% of Alvarez, Meyer, and Senger, I believe the pitchers have to be culpable in 2022 as far as not holding runners well.

Oh, and at Alvarez’s current age, Reyes, Straw Man, and Doc Gooden were already in the big leagues.

That's my take, what's yours? Facebook experts are split on the subject, for the little that is worth. One third want him now, another third think the idea is nuts, and the final third just likes to insult those who make reasonable posts. I am getting very good at firing back at the latter group. I often use big words that no doubt baffle them. LOL.

METS WIN 3 OF 4 AGAINST THE MARLENES

6-0 shutout, Peterson win (4-1, 3.18), McNeil (.327) out with hammy. Replaced by Guillorme Gwynn .330).  Hopefully, not a serious injury to the invaluable Squirrel.

JD Davis nailed on hand with a pitch. # 50.  Painful. Hopefully OK. ANSWER?  Retaliate against the Marlins this weekend.

The Dominator, Dom Smith, was recalled. Smith hit .266 in AAA, and 2 for his last 14.

Ender Inciarte was released, and then signed by the Mets, presumably to AAA for now. He was hitting .252 in AAA, a few points below Dom.

MINORS:

Teams are off on Mondays.

Mack’s Mets is never off…and always spot on.

One former Tommy John-impacted prospect that has been really dominant in a few outings recently...Jordany Ventura: 

6.1 IP, 3 H, Zero BB, 11 Ks.  Six innings a career does not make, but those numbers are eye-catching.

Lastly, bonus baby Simon Juan in the DSL is 5 for 37 with a HR.

But my player of the day?  Andinson Ferrer of the DSL - so far, 7.1 career innings, no hits allowed, 5 walks, 17 Ks.  Dang, that's impressive, huh?