Álvarez collects 3 hits, season-high 4 RBIs
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Francisco Álvarez may be the youngest member of a loaded Brooklyn Cyclones roster, but the 19-year-old has proven he belongs in a premier spot in the lineup with his advanced approach at the plate.
The Mets’ top prospect recorded three hits and four RBIs in Brooklyn’s 11-6 loss to Jersey Shore on Sunday. Álvarez finished with a final line of 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, four RBIs and a walk. The two extra-base hits were his sixth and seventh doubles on the season.
It was Álvarez’s third performance with three or more hits this season, and his first since May 11. The slugging catcher has recorded hits in six of his last seven games, going 8-for-25 over that span with two homers and two doubles, as well as seven RBIs.
Álvarez, the DH for the day, started the scoring for Brooklyn in the top of the first with his two-out, two-run double, a laser that caromed off the left-field wall. He added two more RBIs in the sixth on hard-hit single up the middle with the bases loaded. Álvarez capped his productive day with a ground-ball double down the left-field line in the eighth following Mets’ No. 4 prospect Brett Baty’s solo home run.
The Venezuela native began the year with Low-A St. Lucie, and quickly earned a promotion to Brooklyn by slashing .417/.567/.646 with an OPS of 1.213 in 15 games. Álvarez struggled initially following the move to New York but has started to get acclimated in a lineup that features Baty and the Mets’ No. 2 prospect Ronny Mauricio.
On the year, Álvarez is slashing .354/.486/.585 with a 1.071 OPS. While flashing elite contact skills, Álvarez has shown a penchant for patience with 19 walks to 15 strikeouts in 107 plate appearances, a walk rate of 17.8 percent.
Although he is 19, MLB Pipeline has projected Álvarez to reach the Majors in 2023, a fast trajectory that would put him in Queens by age 21. With his bat-to-ball skills flourishing, as well as a patient approach and an increase in both gap and over-the-wall power, the young catcher is part of an elite group of position-player talent moving through the Mets’ system.