How Mets' confidence in Alvarez is starting to pay off

NEW YORK – Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez watched dejectedly from inside the dugout as his teammates hit during the eighth inning of an eventual 8-0 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

It was becoming even harder for Alvarez, who had struck out for the third time in as many at-bats in National League Championship Series Game 3, to avoid the outside noise that questioned whether manager Carlos Mendoza should make changes to his lineup. Alvarez had opened the postseason 5-for-35 (.143) with no extra-base hits, one RBI, one walk and 13 strikeouts in New York’s first 10 postseason games from the ninth spot of the order.

Mendoza, with his ability to read his players’ body language, called over his 22-year-old Venezuelan backstop. After a quick tip about being early on the fastball, Mendoza offered something even more valuable: his vote of support.

“'Don't worry about it,’” Alvarez recalled Mendoza saying. “'You got that. You're going to play tomorrow.’

“And he gave me confidence. He gave me that confidence. I really like what he does in that moment. He gives me a lot of confidence. [Wednesday] when I went home, and I feel really good, even if I don't have a good game. But I feel very good because he gives me the confidence in the game. So I really appreciate him.”

Since that pep talk, Alvarez has gone 4-for-5 with one double, one hit-by-pitch and one RBI, including a stretch of reaching base in five consecutive plate appearances. He also recorded his first three-hit performance in four months in Friday’s 12-6 victory in Game 5 to help the Mets stave off elimination.

Before Game 4, Mendoza explained that Alvarez’s ability to change the outcome of the game with one swing was reason enough to stick with him. His 36 homers from 2023-24 were the eighth most among Major League catchers with at least 750 plate appearances.

“I think the biggest thing was trying to keep it simple,” Mendoza said. “Not trying to swing too hard and just be short to the ball, be on time, and just basically relax. I know when you're struggling, you've got a lot of people in your ears and, ‘You need to do this, need to do that.’ Especially this time of the year, the simpler, the better. That's what he did. Just trying to stay short to the ball, see the ball. I know it's easy for me to sit here and say it, but he's also doing it. He's a really good player. I've been saying it, and he's showing it right now. He's a big part of this team.”

On Friday, Alvarez utilized the entire field and exhibited his strength with three hard-hit balls (exit velocity of 95 mph or higher). He opened the second inning with a double to right by jumping Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty’s four-seamer. In the third, Alvarez pulled Flaherty’s slider for an RBI single to left. He singled to left again in the fourth by ambushing righty Brent Honeywell’s first-pitch four-seamer.

Of those three knocks, Alvarez’s third-inning hit that scored Starling Marte likely meant the most. He had entered the at-bat 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and had left 11 men on base in the NLCS, including seven in Game 2 alone.

Like Mendoza, the veteran Marte had given Alvarez words of encouragement. The fact that soft-spoken Marte, who is more of a lead-by-example leader, advised Alvarez to “be happy” and “play your game” meant the world to him.

“I think the biggest difference has been his confidence,” Marte said. “He's the type of player that you can say something to and he'll put it into practice. And I think that's a good thing to take away from when you're having these conversations with young players, that they listen to you, and that they try to get it right. It may not be the first day. It may not be the second day. But in a couple of days, they tend to pick it up. And it brings a joy to us veterans to be able to have those conversations with young guys, because you know they're listening, but they also want to be good and help the team.”

Alvarez admitted to trying to do too much and swinging big in key moments. Francisco Lindor, another veteran to lend his support, was quick to point out the amount of pressure on the young backstop.

Alvarez needs to study not only his pitching staff, but the Dodgers’ as well. He must control the game and help the Mets’ arms navigate one of the Majors’ toughest lineups.

“He's the only person that touches the ball on every single pitch that's thrown throughout the whole game,” Lindor said. “So just [want] to help him stay within himself. And he's going to be really good. He's already good. He's going to be really good. This experience for him, it's going to help him take the next step.”