Mets Minors: Francisco Alvarez is back to the drawing board
Why not to panic over Francisco Alvarez
The Mets hit 7 home runs in the majors on Saturday and the biggest and farthest of them was the one hit by Francisco Alvarez. It was his high note to go out on, as the talented young catcher has seemed lost at the plate and the Mets are in the midst of a terrible slump. Returning to AAA is not something any major leaguer wants to have happen, but the Mets were more than justified as Alvarez’s poor hitting had begun to bleed into his defense and pitch framing.
What gets lost by fans of the Mets who might only think about the team in Queens is that Alvarez isn’t your typical catching prospect, promoted in his mid-twenties to the majors. Alvarez is still only 23 years old and younger than the Mets catching prospect in AA, Kevin Parada. Alvarez, some may remember, was promoted to the majors because of injuries and hadn’t been performing in AAA before he got the call. Instead, it was that he got the call and showed incredible power and clutch performance that held him in the majors.
People concerned with his defense should also recall that the Mets had been concerned by his defense in the minors and that he outplayed his expectations after his promotion. There is a very real possibility that Francisco Alvarez is simply in his own head right now and getting in his own way. All of this is why the Mets were right to send their young catcher back to AAA where he can try to right his own ship without being under the media microscope.
The hope is that he can regain his confidence both at the plate and behind it and maybe be ready in late July or early August to give the Mets an offensive boost. That mammoth home run on Saturday is a taste of what Alvarez could do if he is able to find himself and return. I’m not saying he’s going to return as Cal Raleigh, but the Mets would love the kid who hit 25 home runs in 123 games to come back.
AAA Syracuse Mets
The Mets have two of their previously injured starters taking the mound this week. Paul Blackburn is pitching tonight and Frankie Montas (hold your sarcastic applause) takes the mound on Tuesday. Sean Manaea’s return should not be far away as the Mets might look for him to make only one more rehab outing before he also returns to the majors. Unlike Blackburn and Montas, Manaea rates as one of the Mets four “locks” in the pitching staff. Unfortunately we’ll need to wait a little longer to finally have our four best starters all be healthy as Kodai Senga is recovering. By the time that happens the Mets may have some interesting decisions on their hands.
Notes:
Nolan McLean, RHP (23) - Let’s see how he likes throwing to Alvarez because if Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning don’t regain their better selves, he’s the Mets best option for promotion.
Brandon Sproat, RHP (24) - It’s the walks that are most troubling. He just seems like a different pitcher than the one we saw in Brooklyn and Binghamton.
Drew Gilbert, OF (24) - He’s hit in 14 of 19 games this June but he’s not showing enough power or patience. He also has had a few too many 1 hit in 4-5 at bat games.
Blade Tidwell, RHP (23) - He cannot give up as many hits and walks as he does and be anything of use.
Dominic Hamel, RHP (26) - It seems he has officially made the switch to reliever which could be good for him. He’s a work in progress but I’m hopeful.
AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies
Jonah Tong is really that good. It’s as simple as that and the time for testing him in AAA has come. He’s managed to get his walks down in his recent starts and maintained his excellent WHIP and K/9. All that remains for Tong is to prove he can do it at the dreaded highest level of Met development, Syracuse. Will he be like Nolan McLean, and prove up to the task, or will he crash and burn like Mike Vasil, Dominic Hamel, Blade Tidwell and Brandon Sproat. I think we will see this promotion before my next article and I’m hopeful.
Notes:
Zach Thornton, LHP (23) - As if on cue, the players I call out are cursed to have a sudden blip of struggle. Thornton has done poorly since my previous post extolling his potential.
Ryan Lambert, RHP (22) - Less smooth sailing than other relievers but he’s pitching well enough to stay on the list.
Douglas Orellana, RHP (23) - I think Orellana could go up to AAA with Tong based on what he’s done in AA.
Anthony Nunez, RHP (23) - He’s done very well since his promotion and his WHIP is gloriously low.
Jack Wenninger, RHP (23) - If someone asked me who Wenninger reminded me of, I’d say Colin McHugh. When McHugh was a Met prospect he was good but never good enough to draw lots of buzz. Then the Mets let him go and he had a couple brilliant years with another team.
Ryan Clifford, 1B (21) - He may be little more than Alonso’s insurance policy’s, insurance policy but he’s once again on an upward tick.
Jett Williams, SS (21) - Someone show me what he hasn’t done in AA that he still needs to in order to get to AAA?
Kevin Parada, C (23) - .352/.419/.648 happens to be the slash line that Parada has earned through most of June. Is this the long overdue breakout or am I cursing him like I cursed A.J. Ewing and Zach Thornton?
Nick Morabito, OF (22) - The Mets need him to join the ranks in AAA if only because they need to see if Tyrone Taylor needs to stick around to be the 4th outfielder after 2025. Morabito has a ceiling, but the floor is pretty high.
A+ Brooklyn Cyclones
A.J. Ewing slumps after I curse him with my crazy prediction. He’s likely one of the few players who is in the Advanced A offense who should stay in Advanced A once the Mets get the promotion carousel going. It just needed to be noted that the express train of A.J. Ewing is no longer quite the bullet train it had been.
Notes:
Carson Benge, OF (22) - If I’m complaining, he hasn’t hit a homer in June. Even so he’s SLG is over .400 and it’s hard to be upset with a guy whose OPS is over .800 in every month of the season. He’s well past due for promotion.
Joel Diaz, RHP (21) - The ship is back on course and he seems poised for a mid-season promotion to AA. There’s no rush.
Nate Dohm, RHP (22) - Even though he began the year in Low A the Mets should be looking at a second promotion for Dohm who has not seemed slowed since his promotion.
Jonathan Santucci, LHP (22) - The trend of improvement continues and Santucci could be in line for a late-season promotion.
Raimon Gomez, RHP (23) - The triple digit fire baller is seeing his Ks rise and WHIP fall. I am pleased.
Ronald Hernandez, C (21) - It’s been a bad month for Hernandez.
Chris Suero, C (21) - The OPS for June is over .900 and he’s screaming for promotion again.
Jesus Baez, SS (20) - In the midst of an 8 game hit streak. Let’s hope he ends the month hot.
Jacob Reimer, 3B (21) - Reimer has finally slowed down but I think the Mets are more-so waiting to be ready to promote Clifford than waiting on being ready to promote Reimer.
Marco Vargas, 2B (20) - He probably would be served by staying in Brooklyn a little while longer.
Eli Serrano III, OF (22) - Back from a short injury stint and performing, it’s hard to see why he belongs in Brooklyn any longer.
A Port St. Lucie Mets
Brooks Raley is rehabbing sooner than later and he’s off to a fine start in Low-A. It could be that by the middle of July the Mets have one more front-line reliever in their bullpen to take some pressure off the fading starting pitching. Raley has pitched twice for Port St. Lucie and it’s hard to predict how much longer he’ll be in Florida before the Mets escalate his rehab Northward. It’s unclear if that would mean a trip to Brooklyn or an express pass to Syracuse.
Notes:
Colin Houck, SS/3B (20) - He’s blocked in Advanced A by Jesus Baez, Marco Vargas, A.J. Ewing and (to a lesser extent) Boston Baro but he’s now looking like a “Top Pick”. His slash line for June is .317/.411/.524 and he has little support offensively to speak of.
Daviel Hurtado, LHP (20) - Mid-season promotion achieved. He’s finding his footing but he’s one of my favorite international players.
Christofer Gomez, RHP (22) - This reliever is too old for the level and should be promoted ASAP.
Franklin Gomez, RHP (19) - Similar to Joel Diaz, he’s been a second tier name in the system for a while and he’s starting to get results to match the buzz.
Jeremy Rodriguez, SS (18) - It’s become a down year in general and the Mets should not stress themselves too much. He has time to rediscover the star in the making we glimpsed.
Daiverson Gutierrez, C (19) - An .842 OPS for the month of June is a nice sign. There isn’t a rush for him to move up to Brooklyn just yet.
Yohairo Cuvas, OF (21) - He should see promotion when Eli Serrano III and Carson Benge see theirs. He’s a depth prospect but having a solid year.
R FCL Mets
Nothing notably positive to report.
R DSL Orange and Blue Mets
Tough league to write home about but some names you may wish to look in on:
Yovanny Rodriguez, C (18)
Jean Brito, RHP (19)
Anderson Ozuna, RHP (18)
Josmir Reyes, C (18)
Yeider Mindiola, C (18)
Diover De Aza, SS (17)
Roybert Herrera, 3B (17)
Christopher Larez, SS (19)
Houck promoted to Brooklyn. Nothing yet on any of the Brooklyn guys going to Binghamton.
Edit: Benge going to AA
Good take on the Alvarez situation, David. Acuna was way past due to be demoted. Maurico is next when Vientos is ready. Those three players will get some much needed at bats in the minors instead of crippling the major league batting order. I'm glad that Benge got promoted. Williams and Tong should be in Syracuse .