Francisco

Alvarez

Alvarez left Friday’s game against the Brewers with back spasms and didn’t play Saturday, but the 22-year-old slugging backstop will handle catching duties in a massive game against the Brew Crew on Sunday.

Luis Torrens replaced him against the Brewers. It’s poorly timed injury, but he’s just day-to-day for now.

Alvarez extended the New York lead to 5-2 with a two-run double in the seventh inning. The 22-year-old backstop has now homered 11 times with his solo shot off Ranger Suárez in the second, and five of those have come since September 11. The 22-year-old is clearly picking up the baseball well, and it’s something to keep an eye on not only for the final week, but for the 2025 season as well.

Alvarez hit his 10th homer of the season, and it was one of of four the Mets were able to tally against a completely ineffective Taijuan Walker. The 22-year-old has disappointed with his pop in 2024 — even when you consider he missed considerable time with injury — but there’s very few backstops who have more raw pop than he does. Something to keep in mind when drafting in 2025.

Alvarez clocked his three-run shot directly off the foul pole to break the 0-0 tie and start Aaron Nola down the path toward implosion after he’d held the Mets hit-less through four innings. It was the second three-run homer in three at-bats for Alvarez who looks to finally be heating up after his power completely evaporated through the second half of the season.

Alvarez’s homer supplied the final three runs of the six-run, ninth-inning rally. It followed his eighth-inning at-bat in which, with Bowden Francis’s pitch count turning into an issue, he popped up the very first pitch he saw with the Mets down 1-0. In truth, there have been a whole lot of bad at-bats from Alvarez in the second half; he came into the day at .161/.230/.226 since the All-Star break. The homer was his third in his last 191 plate appearances, and it gave him his first multi-RBI game since July 1.

Torrens actually made a second straight start over Francisco Alvarez tonight. He’s been the better player with Alvarez in the midst of a two-month slump, but it’d be best for the Mets if that did not continue. Alvarez will likely be back in there Tuesday.

Alvarez delivered a huge walkoff homer Monday, but he’s just 3-for-34 with that one RBI since Aug. 9. He’s batting .155/.211/.250 in 26 games since the All-Star break.

Alvarez sent the Citi Field faithful home victorious with a no-doubter to left-center field off newly-minted Orioles stopper Seranthony Domínguez. The 22-year-old backstop has been scuffling in recent weeks, batting .206 (20-for-97) with two homers and five RBI over his last 30 contests. It’s been a down year offensively for the former top prospect, but we’re assuming he’s been playing through a laundry list of physical issues, which have likely contributed to his power outage at the dish.

He’s batting eighth against the Twins.