The Mets are recalling Francisco Alvarez to the big league roster after the catcher hit the ball very hard during a stint with Triple-A Syracuse.
The call-up, confirmed by SNY's Andy Martino and first reported by The New York Post's Mike Puma, would see Alvarez return to the majors after his demotion on June 22. He got off to a rough start to the season, starting with a broken hamate bone in his left hand, which kept him out of action until April 25.
Once he arrived, he struggled at the plate, slashing .236/.319/.333 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 35 games while splitting time with Luis Torrens.
Alvarez, who was pulled from Syracuse's game on Sunday at Norfolk in the top of the ninth inning, turned things around of late. In his last action at Triple-A, he socked his 11th homer since being sent down. During his 19-game stint, the 23-year-old catcher had 20 hits in 67 at-bats (.299) with three doubles to go along with the 11 round-trippers and 24 RBI for a 1.233 OPS (.397 OBP, .836 slugging). He had 22 strikeouts to nine walks with two hit-by-pitches.
Following a towering homer on Friday night, Alvarez struck again with a runner on second base in the top of the first inning, when he got an 85 mph slider on the inside corner and turned it, clobbering the ball 420 feet over the batter's eye in center field. At 109.7 mph off the bat, it was the second hardest-hit ball across all of Triple-A that day.
Francisco Alvarez hits one OVER the batter's eye for his 11th home run in the last 16 games for Triple-A Syracuse 🔥 pic.twitter.com/IDR3Rnkol2
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 20, 2025
On Friday, with a runner on second and one out in the top of the first, Alvarez blasted an 0-1 sweeper 427 feet to left field. The ball left his bat at 111.8 mph and had a 23-degree launch angle.
Speaking on Saturday, manager Carlos Mendoza said the catcher was doing "everything we're asking him to do" for a promotion. "We've seen the power, obviously, with the way he's been driving the ball to all fields. But the defense, the reports we're continuing to get are pretty impressive.
"The receiving, the blocking… We just wanted to see some consistency there. The framing, the blocking, just in general, as a catcher. And he's doing that."
Speaking before the All-Star break, Mendoza said he had been getting good reports on the young catcher and praised his work ethic and positivity since arriving in Syracuse.
"Willingness to listen to the feedback in some of the things, where it is defensively or offensively," Mendoza said last Sunday in Kansas City, adding that he's speaking with the Triple-A manager Dick Scott and the minor league coordinators, "and everything has been phenomenal."
Mendoza, who said he's been watching all of Alvarez's at-bats, said the Mets "want him to do damage."
"Be ready for the fastball, make some good swing decisions, and when he's getting pitches to hit, not missing them. And that's what we're seeing," he said. "We're seeing him pull the ball, we're seeing him go the other way, we're seeing him go dead center. And that's a sign of a good hitter when he's feeling and going well.
"It's not necessary that you have to pull the ball or you have to go the other way. No, you hit the ball where it's pitched."
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