PHILADELPHIA -- Francisco Alvarez, a 23-year-old catcher who once rated as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, is going to work out his issues in the Minors.
The Mets on Sunday optioned Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse and recalled Hayden Senger to replace him. The move comes with Alvarez batting just .236/.319/.333 in 35 games, though he homered in his last start Saturday and had shown additional signs of life at the plate, including a .709 OPS in June. But Alvarez was still striking out in more than a quarter of his plate appearances, while also demonstrating some defensive regression.
On Saturday, Alvarez could not corral a wild pitch that led to a run. He also rates in the 8th percentile in Statcast’s framing metric, significantly below his usual perch as one of the game’s top framers.
The Mets had previously resisted this move in part because of Alvarez’s potential. Two years ago, in his age-21 season, Alvarez hit 25 homers. He took a step back last season and has been even less productive this year. Multiple hand and wrist injuries have also hampered his progress.
Senger, 28, is a defensive expert who spent time in the Majors earlier this year. He’ll back up Luis Torrens, a 29-year-old veteran who has been productive during stints as the starter. Torrens is batting .232/.309/.344 in 45 games.