Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Richard Nelson
Typically, when you have a prospect like Francisco Álvarez in your farm system, at some point, you try to temper expectations. After all, you don’t want to put too much on the prospect and set them up for failure. However, everywhere you look Álvarez keeps getting hyped.
The latest is MLB Pipeline naming Álvarez the second best prospect in the game. Not second best catcher. Not second best international player. The second best in the entire game.
This really should come as no surprise. Max Scherzer was impressed Álvarez during his rehab start. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN named him the best prospect in the minor leagues. MLB Pipeline adds to the hype saying, “Álvarez’s trajectory toward becoming an All-Star catcher seems to get more assured by the month.”
His success has led to Álvarez getting promoted to Triple-A despite his having been the youngest player in the Eastern League. In his first game with Syracuse, he was 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a walk. He would also throw out his first attempted base stealer:
Francisco Álvarez throws out the runner at 2nd! pic.twitter.com/TSgKq0gbaF
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 4, 2022
The top overall prospect right now is Riley Greene, who is in the majors with the Detroit Tigers right now. Should Greene stay, sooner or later, he will graduate from prospect status leaving Álvarez as the top prospect in the game.
Álvarez being named the second overall prospect is an indication of what is an up and coming Mets minor league system. In addition to Álvarez, Brett Baty was rated as the 22nd best prospect in the game. He was also rated the second best third base prospect.
Ronny Mauricio was rated as the 54th best prospect in the game, and Alex Ramirez was rated as the 90th best prospect in the game. Despite Mark Vientos hitting .280/.374/.567 with four doubles, 13 homers, and 31 RBI since May 1, he missed the list.
With the way Vientos has been hitting, he may well reach the rankings before the season is over. Then again, he could find himself in the majors before that point. With Álvarez’s upward trajectory, he may be there as well.
