Francisco Alvarez was supposed to be in the middle of the New York Mets‘ lineup as the team’s starting catcher in 2025, but he’s been limited to 35 games due to injury.
His season hit a low point on Sunday, when the 23-year-old was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse.
“Mets have optioned Francisco Alvarez and recalled Hayden Senger,” Mike Puma of the New York Post reported on X.
The move comes as Alvarez has struggled at the plate this season, slashing just .236/.319/333 with three home runs and 11 RBI, though he did finish Saturday’s 11-4 win against the Philadelphia Phillies 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored. The dinger gave him his first home run or RBI since June 8, and the victory snapped New York’s season-long seven-game losing streak.
While fellow backstop Hayden Senger was recalled in the transaction, Luis Torrens is likely to take over as the Mets’ starting catcher.
Demotion Comes 4 Days Following Criticism
Sunday’s demotion comes less than one week after Alvarez was singled out by co-hitting coach Eric Chavez for his lack of production.
“We can feel as good as we want off the field, but the only thing that matters is those four at-bats,” Chavez said, per Tim Britton of The Athletic, in an article posted on June 18. “Because at some point, if you don’t get results, it doesn’t matter what you’re feeling. It’s not working. At some point, it has to start translating.”
Chavez wasn’t done in his criticism of the former top prospect.
“We don’t have three or four months for you to figure out your swing,” the former Gold Glove third baseman said. “(Alvarez) understands the importance of that and the urgency of that. He understands what we have in Torrens. He’s not oblivious to any of this. … We need to start seeing some of those results a lot sooner than later.”
According to a report by Will Sammon of The Athletic following Sunday’s news, the team had “weighed the delicacy of such a decision, monitoring the situation for improvement” for “weeks.”
“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,” Sammon wrote. “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.”
Rough 2025 Continues For Francisco Alvarez
The Venezuelan’s spring got off to a rough start, when he suffered a fractured hamate bone in his left hand in early March. The injury sidelined him for nearly two months and Alvarez made his season debut in Queens in late April.
He’s struggled mightily since returning to the big leagues, however, with just 29 hits, 10 runs scored and 13 walks against 38 strikeouts through 138 plate appearances.
Alvarez signed with the Mets in July 2018 at 16 years old and tore his way through the minors before making his MLB debut at the end of the 2022 season. Alvarez then showed off his power across 382 at-bats covering 123 games in his 2023 rookie campaign, finishing third on the team with 25 home runs.
This is his second straight injury-impacted campaign though, as he suffered a torn UCL last April, which led to surgery. Alvarez missed over seven weeks of action and finished the campaign with just 11 home runs, 47 RBI and a .237/.307/.403 slash line in 308 at-bats and 100 games.
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