Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN
New York Mets top prospect Francisco Álvarez has been playing with Mets affiliates since 2019. After this past week with Double-A Binghamton, Álvarez has amassed 162 professional games played. Put another way, Álvarez has played a full season’s worth of games.
Over his first 162 games, Álvarez has hit .275/.383/.526 with 34 doubles, one triple, 35 homers, and 110 RBI. Keep in mind, these are numbers coming from a catcher, which is a reminder of how Keith Law of The Athletic dropped a Mike Piazza comp on Álvarez entering this season.
Mets top prospect Francisco Álvarez has three home runs in three games to start the season for Double-A Binghamton.
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 13, 2022
To put the comp in perspective, Piazza’s 162 game average over his Hall of Fame career was .308/.377/.545 with 29 doubles, one triple, 36 homes, and 116 RBI. Looking at it from this perspective, Law did not seem like he was reaching or using shock value when making this comp.
What makes what Álvarez is doing all the more impressive is he is consistently among the youngest players at each level he has played. That includes this season where Álvarez is the youngest player in the Eastern League. On that note, while there has been some focus on his recent struggles, he has still amassed a 114 wRC+ so far this season.
Defensively, Álvarez has received marks for his effort and drive. He has continued to make strides behind the plate improving his framing and footwork. Unlike Piazza, Álvarez has been noted as having a very strong arm. On that later point, during Spring Training, Buck Showalter noted Álvarez couldn’t wear the PitchCom due to his massive forearms.
https://twitter.com/AnthonyDiComo/status/1495795611081359361?s=20&t=9dLeKZBI2dq4cBnjZham2A
Speaking of Showalter, Álvarez has impressed wherever he has gone. To wit, he was a big talking point during Spring Training due to his confidence in saying he wants to make the majors this season, and for the big homers he hit. As Showalter would put it, he would hit a “a real big boy home run.”
The ball just jumps off of Álvarez’s bat and goes a long way. As noted by MMO‘s Mathew Brownstein, Álvarez can hit high velocity and hit is out even faster. For example, Álvarez hit a 98 MPH fastball for a 440 foot homer which had an exit velocity of 108.9 MPH. That’s something only 14 players had previously done in the Statcast era.
Overall, Álvarez has continuously shown why he is not only the Mets top prospects, but also, one of the very best prospects in the game. His first 162 games were impressive, and we can anticipate his next 162 will be all the more impressive. Of course, with the way he has progressed, Álvarez may soon be playing those 162 games in the majors.
