Francisco Álvarez, Photo by Herm Card
New York Mets prospects Francisco Álvarez and Brett Baty have been named to Minor League Baseball’s Double-A All-Star Team for the 2022 season.
Minor League Baseball revealed its end-of-season award winners and All-Star teams earlier today, covering all three Double-A circuits. The winners and All-Star teams are based on votes cast by managers throughout Minor League Baseball. It should come as no surprise that Álvarez and Baty were honored. Álvarez was voted in as the catcher and Baty made the All-Star Team as the third baseman. Mets prospect Mark Vientos was previously named an All-Star in Triple-A.
Both Álvarez and Baty absolutely raked in the minors in 2022, cementing their status as blue chip prospects and ultimately fast-tracking their respective path to the majors. Both players made their major league debut for the Mets in the latter stages of the 2022 season.
Álvarez enjoyed such a stellar year that he propelled himself to the top of the pile as the No. 1 overall prospect in all of baseball while establishing himself as the catcher of the future for the Mets. The phenom slugger hit .277/.368/.553/.922 for Double-A Binghamton, to go along with 18 home runs, 16 doubles, 36 walks, and 47 RBI. He hit at a high level at Triple-A Syracuse before playing in five games for the Mets at the end of the year.
The catcher hit one home run, one double, and one RBI in 14 appearances in the bigs, and his inclusion as catcher in the 2022 Double-A All-Star Team caps off what was a special and defining year for the power hitter, who could become an everyday catcher in the majors in 2023.
Like his fellow highly-regarded prospect, Baty also put together a remarkable 2022 season where his ability to hit really stole the headlines. The lefty bat went on an absolute tear for Double-A Binghamton, slashing .312/.406/.544/.950 with 106 hits, 19 home runs, 22 doubles, 46 walks, and 59 RBI.
The 18th overall ranked prospect in baseball translated his hitting ability to Triple-A, before being called up to the majors where he hit a homer in his first career at-bat. Baty hit .184/.244/.342/.586 with two home runs and five RBI in 42 plate appearances for the Mets. While he struggled in the field and at the plate at times, the 22-year-old still projects to be a very productive everyday player at the major league level sooner rather than later.
