The New York Mets might not be in a playoff spot right now, but they are just 2.5 games behind the third and last Wild Card in the National League. Making the postseason this year wasn’t exactly a preseason objective given the state of the franchise: you could say 2025 was more of a goal. However, the opportunity is right there and the organization will give it their best shot.
To dream about that scenario, however, some things would need to happen. One of them is, clearly, getting more production and consistency out of a player who was very important in the first half. To have postseason aspirations, the Mets need Francisco Alvarez to get going at the plate again.
You could say that, for a catcher’s standards, Alvarez is having a solid season, or at least a passable one. He is hitting .236/.301/.382 with six home runs, 12 doubles and a .683 OPS. According to his 95 wRC+, it’s awfully close to league-average performance.
However, if you remember the first half he had, you know he is capable of much more. The Mets young star hit .296/.365/.479 with a .844 before the All-Star break and looked like he was breaking out.
The Mets’ catcher is struggling badly at the moment
Despite a thrilling walk-off home run exactly a week ago, on August 19, Alvarez has really struggled at the plate in recent contests. He has a mediocre .071/.152/.143 line in his last 11 games since August 9 and his second half OPS stands at a disappointing .427 in 29 games. He doesn’t have a hit in any of his last five.
Alvarez recently stated that “he doesn’t feel powerful”, per Mets insider Tim Healey, and you can tell his confidence is low.
If you consider his career and the fact he hit 25 home runs in MLB last year, you know there is a slugger there and the power is there somewhere. The Mets hope to work with the young backstop to get him back to where he was prior to the All-Star break.
