What Francisco Alvarez’s Demotion Means Going Forward

In a year that has been nothing short of a nightmare for Francisco Alvarez, he is now on his way back to Triple-A Syracuse.

Alvarez was once the top catching prospect in the sport and a top-five prospect overall. However, he has not lived up to that potential in his first 263 major league games, split between parts of four seasons. Outside of a few rehab stints, he is heading back to the minor leagues for the first time since debuting in September 2022.

In his absence, the New York Mets will look to Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger to shoulder the load behind the dish. 

Alvarez’s season was delayed due to a broken hamate bone that he suffered during spring training. After undergoing surgery and rehab, he returned to the lineup in late April, homering in his second game in Washington. 

Things took a turn from there. The Venezuela-native went 101 trips to the plate before he would leave the park again. Across that span, from April 28 through June 6, Alvarez went 21-for-89 (.236) with a .596 OPS. Tallying only three extra base hits — all doubles — in that window, he slugged just .270, a far-cry from an encouraging rookie campaign in 2023.

Stats and rankings taken prior to play on June 22.

Alvarez’s Potential

Alvarez’s top prospect status was certainly warranted, as he excelled throughout the minor leagues while consistently being one of the younger players at a given level. 

He tallied an OPS of .941 and slammed 24 long balls between two levels in 2021 at age 19. A year later, he replicated that success in a season split between Double-A and Triple-A, slashing .260/.374/.511 with an .885 OPS and 27 home runs, resulting in his promotion for a crucial series with the Braves in late September.

While defense was always a major question mark when coming up through the Mets’ farm system, Alvarez posted strong receiving numbers (95th percentile in framing) in his first full MLB season and had an above-average pop time at 1.94 seconds, according to Baseball Savant.

Moreover, his bat displayed his potential, despite a .209 batting average. In 2023, Alvarez joined Hall of Famer Johnny Bench with 25 home runs — the most ever hit by a catcher in their age-21 season or younger. 

By no means was that version of Alvarez a complete player (or even a complete hitter), but the framework was there to be one of the premier backstops in the league. 

Alvarez’s Struggles

Each of the next two seasons has been injury-affected, as a thumb issue knocked him out for nearly two months in 2024, before the aforementioned hamate fracture this year. 

Of all the things that have disappeared in Alvarez’s game since the pair of hand injuries, most notable is the impressive power that garnered love in 2023. 

2025 has been his worst year yet, as his 91 wRC+ is 28th out of 40 MLB catchers with at least 130 plate appearances. Overall, he has slashed .236/.319/.333 with an OPS of a measly .652. At-bats have looked uncompetitive, as his chase rate has gone up dramatically since ‘23, from 26.1% to 29.4%. To add on, he comes up empty on 36.2% of the pitches he offers at. 

On the other hand, Torrens — while not hitting especially well — handled the Mets’ pitching staff remarkably well while Alvarez was on the shelf in the early season, and is among the best defensive catchers in the league.

Torrens is due for a breakout of his own. While he isn’t a qualified hitter yet, just look at his Baseball Savant Page.

This situation left manager Carlos Mendoza in a bind: play your blue-chip youngster, or let a veteran take the reins of a team with World Series aspirations.

The answer was a platoon that has slightly favored Alvarez, with Torrens playing 24 games since Alvarez’s return on April 25. In that time, Alvarez has played 35 times.

Even during his struggles in the second half of last year, Alvarez spoke publicly about his mindset when going through difficulty.

Alvarez was quoted in 2024 saying, “I don’t feel powerful,” amidst a season that saw him hit just 11 home runs in 100 games. 

It is obvious that the injuries and lack of production weighed on him mentally. Additionally, he and Mets coaches have constantly tinkered with his swing, opting for a more closed approach as he aims to be an all-fields hitter.

“I told [Alvarez]: Listen, you hit 25 home runs last year. That’s great. I looked at your year and I don’t think it was very good,” Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez said of Alvarez’s 2023 campaign. “There’s a lot of areas you could get better at.”

At the same time, the constant changing of a swing that got him regarded as one of the game’s best prospects may have overcomplicated things for Alvarez.

The Past Week

Given his age, Alvarez is still a developing ballplayer, and a near 50/50 split in playing time does nothing for his development.

This, coupled with his offensive struggles and some miscues in the field, culminated in a miserable week for the young catcher, which ended with his demotion. 

On Tuesday, the Mets blew a 4-1 lead to the division-rival Atlanta Braves, seeing their season-worst losing streak extend to four games. By the end of play on Friday, the streak had reached seven.

Alvarez was a focal point in Tuesday’s loss. In the eighth inning with the Mets still ahead, Alvarez called for a splitter against Marcell Ozuna, despite reliever Reed Garrett’s apparent desire to throw a fastball. Ozuna followed by pulling the split into the left-field corner for a game-tying, bases-clearing double.

In the postgame locker room, Alvarez was peppered with questions by reporters about the pitch selection and events that transpired in the innings that followed.

“[Garrett] called fastball and I changed the pitch to a splitter,” Alvarez said in a postgame interview. “I think he was right and and I think I made a mistake in that situation. I feel bad, very bad for that.” 

Despite Garrett’s efforts to console Alvarez, the young backstop repeated that he bore responsibility for the three Braves runs. 

“I was telling [Garrett] that ‘it’s on me,’” Alvarez said. “He was feeling bad because he can re-call the fastball again if he’s 100% sure. He got angry to my reading that it’s more on me than him. He’s doing great, so I didn’t need to change anything. I’m still thinking that it’s my fault and he’s doing great.”

After popping out with the free runner aboard in the top of the 10th, more defensive gaffes plagued Alvarez in the bottom of the 10th.

As a pitch hit the dirt and squirted away, Braves’ baserunner Eli White was caught dead to rights between second and third base, but Alvarez committed a cardinal sin of baseball fundamentals: throwing behind the runner. As the throw went from the plate to second base, White took off for third, bringing the winning run 90 feet away. 

“I saw the runner going back to second base, and I have a shot at second base,” Alvarez said. “Now, after the play, it’s better to eat the ball on that play.” 

Those 90 feet came back to haunt the Mets, as Austin Riley delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly moments later.

Alvarez sat the next night, but came back Thursday night and went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. Saturday, in Philadelphia, the Mets finally snapped their losing streak and Alvarez had a much better day. He went 2-for-5 with a homer that traveled over 450 feet, but allowed a wild pitch that brought in a run for the Phillies. 

Sunday morning, he found himself on a plane to Syracuse. During the Mets’ seven-game winless stretch, Alvarez went 1-for-15 with four punch outs in the four games he played. 

Takeaways

By the end of the week, it became abundantly clear that he desperately needed a reset and a mental break, which he will now get, away from the bright lights of Citi Field, where the Mets are under a microscope to try to work out of their first rough patch of the season. 

The frustrating part for Alvarez is that, outside of a few mental mistakes in Atlanta, his defense has been relatively strong this year. His caught stealings above average ranks in the 91st percentile, while his pop time is still near the top of the league, in the 96th percentile. On the other hand, his blocking has certainly been an area of concern, as his blocks above average ranks in the 34th percentile leaguewide.

For the Mets, this is not a divorce from a piece that they hope will be their future catcher. Heck, we will likely see him again this season. For now, it gives a 23-year-old, uber-talented player a chance to reset mentally and regain some confidence for a team that needs a spark at the bottom of its lineup.

In New York’s eyes, they value Francisco Alvarez. After all, they gave him a $2.7 million signing bonus back in 2018. They feel as though his recent performance has not warranted him playing time. It’s not as though the Mets are punting for the future either, as they sit just one game behind the Phillies for first place. They need production at the big league level, and Alvarez is not giving it to them.

It is worth reiterating yet again that Alvarez is just 23 years old and still has the potential to be a quality big leaguer. For his own sake and that of the Mets, the club is making the decision as a way to get him consistent at-bats, boost his confidence and hopefully get righted for a potential pennant race.