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Francisco Álvarez
Álvarez with the Mets in 2024
New York Mets – No. 4
Catcher
Born: (2001-11-19) November 19, 2001 (age 22)
Guatire, Venezuela
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 30, 2022, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
(through April 17, 2024)
Batting average.212
Home runs27
Runs batted in72
Teams

Francisco Javier Álvarez (born November 19, 2001), nicknamed Alvy or The Troll, [1] [2] [3] is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Early life

Álvarez was born in Guatire, Venezuela. Between his father, José, and mother, Yolanda, Álvarez had two older siblings and an older half-brother. His sister died when she was a teenager. [4] [5]

As a youth, Álvarez developed his strength by working for his father's construction company. He dropped out of school to pursue baseball full-time at eleven years old, by which point he was already playing in international tournaments. [4] He later received his high school diploma via the New York Mets' Latin American baseball academy. [6]

Inspired by fellow Venezuelan catcher Henry Blanco, [7] Álvarez started catching at twelve years old. [8]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Álvarez signed with the New York Mets as an international free agent in July 2018. [9] [10] He spent his first professional season in 2019 with the Gulf Coast Mets and Kingsport Mets, batting .312 with seven home runs and 26 runs batted in (RBI) over 42 games with both teams. [11] [12] Álvarez did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [13]

The Mets invited Álvarez to their spring training in 2021. [14] He split the season between the St. Lucie Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones, slashing .272/.388/.554 with 24 home runs and 70 RBI over 99 games. [15] [16] [17] [18] In June, Álvarez was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game, [19] [20] in which he homered. [5]

Álvarez again participated in spring training with the Mets in 2022. [21]

Major League

Álvarez with the New York Mets in 2022

Álvarez was called up by the New York Mets on September 30, 2022 and made his major league debut as a designated hitter on the same day against the Atlanta Braves. [22] [23] After going hitless in his first eight at bats, Álvarez hit a 439-foot home run off of Washington Nationals reliever Carl Edwards Jr. [24] It was also the first Major League game in which he played catcher. [25] He was the youngest player to appear in the Major Leagues in 2022. [26]

Álvarez was optioned to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets to begin the 2023 season. [27] His time in Triple-A did not last long, as he was recalled to the Mets on April 7 following a leg injury to Omar Narvaez. [28] He platooned with backup catcher Tomás Nido, and after an impressive slashline, he became the starting catcher after Nido was DFA'ed when Narvaez came back. Álvarez hit .244 with 11 homers and 23 RBI. He had two home runs on June 8 against the Atlanta Braves, making franchise history as the second youngest Mets player to hit 3 home runs in a 2-game span since Darryl Strawberry (1983). [29]Álvarez is also the 12th player in MLB history with at least 12 home runs in the first 46 career games under the age of 22. [30]

On June 10 during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Álvarez made MLB history when he passed Johnny Bench for the most home runs in the first 45 games played in a season for primary-position catchers at the age of 21 or younger. [31] Álvarez's 13 home runs in 49 games is second to catcher Gary Sánchez (19). He also joined Will Smith and Evan Gattis, both with 13 home runs. On July 4th, Álvarez hit his 14th home run (a 467-foot shot to dead center off relief pitcher Miguel Castro) during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks; as a result, he broke the Mets record for most home runs by a rookie catcher, surpassing Travis d'Arnaud (13 HR, 2014), Jason Phillips (11 HR, 2003), and Todd Hundley (7 HR, 1992). [32] On July 29, during a game against the Washington Nationals, Álvarez hit his 20th home run (off Andrés Machado), becoming only the second 21-year-old catcher to reach 20 home runs in a season. On September 30 during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Álvarez hit his first career grand slam off of pitcher Michael Plassmeyer. [33] In 2023, Álvarez played in 123 games for the Mets, batting .209/.284/.437 with 25 home runs and 63 RBIs.

Personal life

Álvarez has several tattoos. He has cited the lion on his left arm as his favorite. His other tattoos include the word "grateful" on his neck, [6] the words "family first" and tributes to his parents and late sister. When Álvarez came to the United States for his first professional season at 16 years old, his parents accompanied him to help ease the transition. [4]

When Álvarez first came to the United States, he spoke no English and had to rely on older teammate José Butto to speak English on his behalf. After studying diligently with Mets staff, getting help from coaches and teammates such as Brett Baty and doing mock interviews with SNY reporter Steve Gelbs, Álvarez was able to conduct live television interviews in English before the start of the 2024 season. [34]

References

  1. ^ Sepkowitz, Leo (16 June 2023). "The Baby Mets Are the Toast of Flushing. But Can They Stop the Mets from Metsing?". GQ Sports.
  2. ^ @SNY_Mets (April 9, 2023). "Francisco Álvarez earned a nickname from children in Venezuela during his teen years because of his imposing stature... EL TROLL makes his first start of the season behind the plate today" ( Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Gilberto, Gerard (21 June 2022). "The Road to the Show: Mets catcher Álvarez". MiLB.com.
  4. ^ a b c DiComo, Anthony (September 30, 2022). "Mets prospect Francisco Álvarez loaded with talent". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b Kelly, Matt (September 29, 2022). "Everything to know about Francisco Álvarez ahead of his callup". MLB.com. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Serby, Steve (1 July 2023). "Francisco Alvarez discusses Mets' loses, home runs, confidence". New York Post. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  7. ^ Alonso, Nathalie (May 20, 2021). "Mets prospect Álvarez 'impressive to watch'". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  8. ^ Kelly, Matt (March 31, 2023). "Who is Francisco Álvarez?". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  9. ^ "NY Mets give catcher Francisco Alvarez a $2.7 million signing bonus". Mycentraljersey.com. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  10. ^ Puma, Mike (3 November 2020). "Francisco Alvarez Has The Right Hitting Approach". www.baseballamerica.com.
  11. ^ Martin, Dan (2020-05-30). "Mets hope Francisco Alvarez can be catcher of the future". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  12. ^ "NY Mets' Top 10 prospects: No. 3 Francisco Alvarez". Northjersey.com. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  13. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Cancelled".
  14. ^ "Mets announce 2021 Spring Training invites". Mlb.com. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  15. ^ "Mets top prospects 2022: Francisco Álvarez and Brett Baty are the big names in New York's farm system". 4 January 2022.
  16. ^ Thosar, Deesha (February 18, 2022). "Francisco Alvarez is aiming for 2022 MLB call-up; Mets add new coach". Daily News. New York. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  17. ^ Toscano, Justin (October 13, 2021). "After impressive season, when could Mets top prospect Francisco Alvarez be in the bigs?". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  18. ^ Puma, Mike (February 18, 2022). "Top Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez has major league goal". New York Post. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  19. ^ "Futures Game rosters are STACKED". MLB.com.
  20. ^ Davidoff, Ken (July 12, 2021). "Skilled Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez not pleased with viral bat-flip video". New York Post. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  21. ^ Rieber, Anthony (March 25, 2022). "Confident Francisco Alvarez making a deep impression on Mets". Newsday. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  22. ^ "Reports: New York Mets calling up top prospect Francisco Alvarez". ESPN. September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  23. ^ Terranova, Justin (September 30, 2022). "Francisco Alvarez hitting seventh in Mets debut". New York Post. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  24. ^ DiComo, Anthony (October 5, 2022). "Álvarez uncorks monstrous homer for 1st MLB hit". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  25. ^ "Francisco Álvarez 2022 Fielding Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  26. ^ "2022 Major League Baseball Awards, All-Stars, & More Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Headed for Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  28. ^ DiComo, Anthony (April 9, 2023). "Top overall prospect Álvarez recalled, debuts in finale vs. Miami". MLB.com.
  29. ^ "New York Mets' Francisco Alvarez Joins Rare Club in Team History". 8 June 2023.
  30. ^ "Francisco Álvarez Blasts Two More Home Runs - Metsmerized Online". 9 June 2023.
  31. ^ "New York Mets Catcher Passes Hall of Famer in Baseball History Books". 10 June 2023.
  32. ^ "Alvarez blasts Mets' longest homer of '23 to win game". MLB.com.
  33. ^ "Alvarez's grand slam (25) | 09/30/2023". MLB.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  34. ^ DiComo, Anthony (February 25, 2024). "Alvarez's English-language journey from Chipotle to TV interviews". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 26 February 2024.

External links

Achievements
Preceded by Youngest player in the National League
2022 		Succeeded by
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