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In a considerably shocking transfer, the Mets despatched Alvarez again to the minor leagues Sunday, optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse and calling up catcher Hayden Senger to take his spot. After just a few weeks of catching errors and inconsistent offensive outcomes, the Mets felt it greatest to provide the 23-year-old Venezuelan an opportunity to regain his footing with Triple-A pitching and get some instruction in a extra managed ambiance.
“Not a straightforward resolution,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza stated Sunday at Residents Financial institution Park forward of the sequence finale towards the Philadelphia Phillies. “One thing that we don’t take flippantly after we’re making these selections. We had intensive conversations, however in the long run we determined that it was greatest for him to go all the way down to Triple-A to play on daily basis.”
The timing of the choice appeared curious to followers provided that Alvarez went 2-for-5 with a home run in Saturday’s win. Nevertheless, it was one sport, and the homer got here within the ninth inning when the Mets have been already nicely forward of the Phillies. In 11 video games this month, he’s hit .238 with a .709 OPS. For the season, he’s hitting .223 with a .652 OPS.
Whereas the numbers themselves aren’t precisely dismal, it’s not what the Mets anticipate from Alvarez. There was some apparent regression in some areas.
“There’s lots of potential there and when he’s enjoying as much as his potential, he’s obtained an opportunity to be a fairly particular participant,” Mendoza stated. “We’re going to wish him and we anticipate him to be again. However proper now, we really feel prefer it’s greatest for him to go down there and get reps.”
After hitting 25 residence runs as a rookie in 2023, Alvarez has struggled to repeat that feat. The backstop has by no means been a high-average hitter, however he’s all the time been in a position to hit the ball laborious and crush left-handed pitching, however he hasn’t completed that this yr (.160 towards left-handers).
“I felt like there have been a few video games the place it was like, ‘OK, that’s what he’s purported to appear like,’” Mendoza stated. “However then he’d go a few video games the place he’s late with the fastball, after which he chases. So simply in search of consistency right here. Though we gave him an opportunity right here, when you’re enjoying 3-4 video games per week in comparison with having a chance to go play six, that’s the way you’re going to get higher.”
Final winter, Alvarez moved his offseason coaching from Miami to Atlanta, opting to go to the identical facility as former Mets DH J.D. Martinez. At Maven Baseball Lab, Alvarez fully overhauled his swing, altering “all the pieces.” The objective was to create a swing that might permit for extra repeatable movement. He sought to enhance his mechanics and his timing, making an attempt to deal with a foul behavior of transferring his weight to his entrance leg too quickly in his swing.
Nevertheless, a brand new swing takes time to develop and repetition to grasp. The Mets had deliberate to provide him loads of reps in spring coaching video games, however he broke his hamate bone in March, which required surgical procedure and rehab. It left him with out the at-bats wanted to implement these offseason swing changes.
“Not making an attempt to make excuses for the child, however he’s one thing that we additionally talked about,” Mendoza stated.
To be clear, the Mets wished him to work on particular mechanical points over the offseason. They put collectively a plan for him that he took to Maven. It was the timing of the harm that was detrimental. Whereas he was on the injured record, Luis Torrens emerged as a stronger catcher on each side of the plate, and Senger was spectacular defensively. Torrens didn’t carry out as nicely offensively splitting time with Alvarez, however his anticipated numbers stay up this season.
“In actuality, Louie continues to earn enjoying time,” Mendoza stated. “So we’re getting to a degree the place it’s like 50-50 [playing time split]. Is that what’s greatest for Alvy? Most likely not at the moment.”
Alvarez improved his pop occasions and transfers this season, fixing an issue that has plagued him since he was within the minor leagues. However his framing and blocking haven’t been as sturdy this season. The Mets know they’ll name up Senger with out dropping something defensively.
Alvarez wished to ensure he could be enjoying on daily basis in Triple-A, which the Mets assured him of. He took the information like a “skilled,” doing extra listening than speaking. Participant improvement isn’t linear, and that’s very true for catchers. The membership did what they thought could be greatest for a scuffling younger participant.
