Francisco Alvarez ‘changed a lot of things’ looking to make good on lofty Mets promise
NY Post
Francisco Alvarez takes big swings, both with his bat and in charting goals.
Coming off an underwhelming offensive season, the young Mets catcher has pledged he will be a better and more selective hitter in 2025.
“I’m working on a lot of things in my hitting. … I have changed a lot of things,” Alvarez said last weekend at the fanfest at Citi Field. “So I’m going to have more plate discipline, and I’m going to have better numbers, too.”
Alvarez arrived in the major leagues for good in 2023 with a minor league reputation as a mighty bat and questionable glove.
As it has turned out, his defense behind the plate has been terrific — working well with pitchers and ranking ninth last season in catcher framing runs despite missing significant time — while his swing has run hot and cold.
In 2023, he did not hit for average (.209) but compensated by slugging 25 home runs in 123 games. In 2024, the contact and average issues remained while the power (11 homers in 100 games) regressed.
He was a fired coach walking, he already knew that, but Andy Reid figured: If I’m going out anyway, I ought to remind everybody I was in the room. It was gray and windy that Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, when he hopped off the Philadelphia Eagles team bus at MetLife Stadium for one last skirmish with the Giants.
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