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Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Mets send slumping catcher Francisco Alvarez to minors
PHILADELPHIA — Scuffling catcher Francisco Alvarez was demoted to the minors by the New York Mets on Sunday. The team optioned Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse and recalled Hayden Senger from its top farm club before Sunday night's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. Senger will back up Luis Torrens, who replaces Alvarez as New York's primary catcher. The move comes after Alvarez went 2 for 5 with a 452-foot home run late in Saturday night's 11-4 victory over Philadelphia, which snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Mets. But he is batting only .236 with three homers, three doubles, 11 RBIs and a .652 OPS in 35 games this year. Alvarez was activated April 25 after beginning the season on the injured list with a hamate fracture in his left hand, and he missed two games this month while on the paternity list. The 23-year-old Alvarez, once rated baseball's best minor league prospect, had 25 homers and 63 RBIs with a .721 OPS as a rookie in 2023. Senger, 28, made his major league debut for the Mets this season and was batting .179 (5 for 28) in 13 big league games. New York began the day tied with Philadelphia atop the NL East. ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Mets send slumping catcher Francisco Alvarez to minors
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Scuffling catcher Francisco Alvarez was demoted to the minors by the New York Mets on Sunday. The team optioned Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse and recalled Hayden Senger from its top farm club before Sunday night's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. Senger will back up Luis Torrens, who replaces Alvarez as New York's primary catcher. The move comes after Alvarez went 2 for 5 with a 452-foot home run late in Saturday night's 11-4 victory over Philadelphia, which snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Mets. But he is batting only .236 with three homers, three doubles, 11 RBIs and a .652 OPS in 35 games this year. Alvarez was activated April 25 after beginning the season on the injured list with a hamate fracture in his left hand, and he missed two games this month while on the paternity list. The 23-year-old Alvarez, once rated baseball's best minor league prospect, had 25 homers and 63 RBIs with a .721 OPS as a rookie in 2023. Senger, 28, made his major league debut for the Mets this season and was batting .179 (5 for 28) in 13 big league games. New York began the day tied with Philadelphia atop the NL East. ___ AP MLB:
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Mets option slumping C Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A
June 22 - Once a highly touted prospect, New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday in the wake of his offensive struggles this season. Alvarez, 23, baseball's No. 1 prospect in 2022 who hit 25 home runs as a rookie in 2023, is hitting just .236 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 35 games this season. In a corresponding move, the Mets recalled Hayden Senger to serve as the backup to starter Luis Torrens. After making a splash as a 21-year-old rookie, Alvarez has been hampered by multiple wrist and hand injuries and regressed last year. In parts of four seasons with the Mets since debuting in 2022, Alvarez is a .223 hitter with 40 homers and 122 RBIs in 263 games. The 28-year-old Senger made his major league debut this season with the Mets, appearing in 13 games and hitting .179 in 28 at-bats. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mets option C Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse
The Mets announced on Sunday afternoon that catcher Francisco Alvarez has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Catcher Hayden Senger has been recalled to take Alvarez's place on the roster. The 2025 season has been a rough go for Alvarez, beginning with a broken hamate bone in his left hand that kept him out of the lineup until April 25. Advertisement Since returning from that injury, Alvarez simply has not looked like himself at the plate, particularly from a power standpoint, slashing .236/.319/.333 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 35 games, splitting time with Luis Torrens. Defensive struggles have also popped up for Alvarez, who has committed three errors and allowed four passed balls, while also struggling to block some balls in the dirt. Opposing runners have stolen 18 bases in 27 attempts, and Alvarez ranks in the eighth percentile among all catchers at pitch framing and in the 34th percentile in blocks above average, according to Baseball Savant. Alvarez went 2-for-5 in Saturday's win over the Philadelphia Phillies, including his first home run since June 8, but he also had some defensive issues on balls in the dirt. The young backstop had a breakout first full season in the big leagues in 2023, mashing 25 home runs while holding his own behind the plate. But a pair of fractures in his left, receiving hand have dampened his power numbers the past two seasons, as he hit just 11 home runs in 100 games last season and now just three home runs in 35 games in 2025. Advertisement John Harper recently spoke to scouts and other people around the game about Alvarez's puzzling struggles, with one scout noting that a trip to the minors may be the best thing for him right now. 'I like the way he plays the game. So in one sense I hate to say it, but I think he's in his own head so much that the Mets need to try something drastic and send him down [to the minors]," the scout told Harper earlier this week. "Give him a chance to figure some things out away from the spotlight."
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Mets option Francisco Alvarez: What went into the decision and what's next
PHILADELPHIA — The New York Mets demoted struggling catcher Francisco Alvarez, one of the organization's most important young players, to Triple A on Sunday, the club announced. For weeks, club officials weighed the delicacy of such a decision, monitoring the situation for improvement. Sending Alvarez, 23, down to the minors for the first time since spring 2023 may be a blow to his confidence at a time when he needs to build on some. But for the club, the move became necessary. Advertisement There was no clear tipping point for the call. Both Alvarez's offense and defense led to the demotion. He is capable of better production on both sides, and the Mets want to see improvement. Alvarez's demotion allows Luis Torrens to assume a full-time role. Torrens deserves the job. Torrens is a standout defender. He handles the pitching staff exceedingly well and deters other teams from stealing bases. His .232/.309/.344 slash line is in line with his career averages. Through April, when Torrens filled in admirably while Alvarez was on the injured list with a broken hamate bone, the veteran backstop delivered a respectable .712 OPS from a position the Mets shouldn't need much offense from, at least in theory. Hayden Senger, who showed Mets officials and rival evaluators in April that he could be a decent backup catcher, replaced Alvarez on the roster. The Mets are comfortable with their catching tandem, people familiar with the situation said, and league sources do not anticipate them jumping into the catcher market at this time. It's unknown how long Alvarez will stay in the minors. The Mets need him to play every day there and figure things out. They are a better team if Alvarez is playing up to his potential. Most surprisingly, Alvarez hasn't hit. More specifically, he hasn't showcased any power, the tool he was known for ever since the Mets signed him to a large bonus as an international prospect in 2018. In 138 plate appearances this season, he is slashing just .236/.319/.333. He hit a home run on Saturday. It was his third home run this season. As a 21-year-old rookie in 2023, Alvarez hit 25 home runs. The power may still be there. He hasn't displayed much of any since then, though. After Alvarez struggled last season, he decided to overhaul his swing in the winter. He wanted to cover more of the plate and use the entire field. A hamate fracture in spring training derailed Alvarez's opportunity to work through those changes at a time when the games didn't mean anything. Advertisement Defensively, Alvarez has struggled to block balls in the dirt and corral errant pitches. With the Mets looking like a serious contender, they felt they could not wait longer for Alvarez to attempt to figure things out at the major-league level. It was time to take action.
