Francisco Alvarez took the ninth place on the list in order. He praised the depth of the Mets’ order instead of questioning his place in it.
“I was just thinking [upon seeing the one through nine] that we have a good list. We have a team with nine good hitters,” Alvarez said through interpreter Alan Suriel after he made the case – with his only hit – that he is not at the bottom of the order for a long time.
The young Mets catcher hit three pitches and scored two runs — one was a home run to the second base in left field — in addition to rescuing the club with a perfect performance in an 11-7 victory over the Pirates on Thursday’s Opening Day at Citi Field.
Arriving in the program, Alvarez was the best prospect in baseball largely because of a powerful bat that showed only glimpses of efficiency in 304 major league games over four seasons. He was demoted in the middle of last season, abandoned the new hitting situation and returned in late July, after which he became one of the best hitters in baseball despite tearing the UCL in his thumb late in the year.
And he continued where he last reached base three times in five plate appearances, crushing one to right and smacking a homer to left in the sixth inning, back-to-back with Carson Benge.
On a promising day for almost the entire Mets lineup — which struggled through long at-bats, forced Pittsburgh to 192 pitches in eight frames and scored 11 runs — the 24-year-old was among the standouts.
“I feel good. I feel really good,” Alvarez said of his swing. “I’ve been able to do my work in the cage, work on it and work on what I want and keep the mechanics to stay strong and consistent.
For all the good things about Alvarez’s bat, his mind may have given him his biggest impact on the game.
In the top of the third inning with the Mets leading 5-2, Freddy Peralta appeared to lose Oneil Cruz on a single on a full-count fastball. The pitch, Alvarez admits, was difficult for home plate umpire Adrian Johnson to judge.
“I called a fastball, Freddy missed and it went in,” said Alvarez, who had to jump his glove from the outfield to the infield. “So it is difficult for the referee to be able to see that.”
It wasn’t that difficult for Alvarez to judge the field. He touched his catcher’s mask and signed the Mets’ first Automated Ball-Strike challenge.
“I felt very confident about it,” said Alvarez, who watched as the play again brought the pitch to the inside of the plate so Cruz grounded out rather than walk.
The challenging decision effectively saved the Mets, as two pitches later Peralta fired a solo shot — not a two-run shot — to Brandon Lowe.
