Francisco Alvarez/Photo by Allen Greene Photography

The New York Mets fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 14-9 on Wednesday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium. The starting lineup was primarily all of the projected bench players but included one prospect — Francisco Alvarez.

The 19-year-old catcher served as the starting designated hitter. He struck out swinging in his first at-bat on four pitches and grounded out to first base in his second plate appearance. As a teenage prospect, the Mets are trying to get Alvarez as much major league experience as they can so they can accelerate his development.

Alvarez is currently ranked as the No. 48 prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com.

Mets 2019 first-round pick and third base prospect, Brett Baty, sliced a two-run double into the left-center field gap in the ninth inning for his first hit of big league camp. Baty, just like all minor leaguers, didn’t have a season last year so the more at-bats he can get in spring training the better.

Pete Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-3 after replacing Kevin Pillar in center field and Ronny Mauricio singled for his only hit of the day in the sixth.

Catcher Ali Sanchez was traded to the Cardinals last month for cash considerations and ended up hitting a two-run home run over the left field wall against his former team to give the Cardinals their two final runs of the day.

On Thursday, the Mets are scheduled to face off against the Washington Nationals at 1:10 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPN.