Reese Kaplan -- Every Now and Then You Can Catch a Break

Anyone who suffered through the torturous and disappointing 2023 season is quick to pile on when it comes to pontificating on what went wrong and who under performed.  Somewhat lost in the cacophony of whining is the remarkable forced debut of 21 year old rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez.  He was a true breath of fresh air whose performance got better in the field and at the plate as the season progressed.

How good was he?  

Well, remember he was not even on the roster that came north in April.  Omar Narvaez was expected to be the starting catcher with Tomas Nido as his backup.  Then both of them got hurt and all of the sudden the normally snail-paced Mets brought up the youngster as what was supposed to be a temporary measure.  Yes, he looked a bit rough behind the plate and his at bats initially were plagued with a bit of an all or nothing vibe.

Then he grew.  His plate framing got better.  His arm started getting more accurate.  He got a bit more disciplined at the plate.  Still, if you ask many people, they will point to his .209 batting average as evidence he was overmatched.  While no one was happy with that aspect of his game, look at little deeper and you will see why many are already demanding the team sign him long term now at a relative bargain price.

How good was his run production?  Well, considering he batted 8th or 9th most of the season you have to view the results with a mega grain of salt.  You can't argue with 25 home runs and 63 RBIs in 382 ABs.  Extrapolate that to a 550 AB season and you're looking at 36 dingers and 91 RBIs from the tail end of your batting order.  Remember, he was still just 21 with plenty of room to grow and learn.

Now it's not the first time the Mets have had a capable hitter behind the dish.  Remember Gary Carter?  Mike Piazza?  Paul LoDuca?  Wilson Ramos?  The first two names up there went to Cooperstown.  While no one is already predicting a plaque on the wall for Alvarez, the fact is that he's an exciting young player everyone should learn to love watching in the games nearly every day.  

What's interesting is what the Mets wind up doing with the backup role right now.  Obviously the original plan for Omar Narvaez is in the scrap heap and he'll be earning over 11 times what Alvarez will get for being the starter.  Then there's Tomas Nido who had vision issues last year which saw him lose not only his spot in the Citifield dugout but also his hold on the 40-man roster.  If the Mets revisited the James McCann approach and paid down a  big chunk of Narvaez's salary then they might be able to trade him away and let Nido serve as the reserve catcher.  

For now, while everyone talks about protecting Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and, to a lesser extent, Starling Marte (who started playing Winter League ball in the Dominican Republic this week), the fact is that Alvarez should likely be moved up in the order with less proven folks like Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and whomever is in left field fulfill the bottom third of the batting order.  

What is especially refreshing is to see how hard Alvarez works towards improving his game.  It's an attitude we'd like to see infect many of the other players on the roster.