Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Do the Mets Have a Francisco Alvarez Problem?

A sign of life last night but still a long way to go...

Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Through the first stretch of the 2025 season, Francisco Alvarez hasn’t just underwhelmed, he’s made the Mets ask hard questions.

After missing the start of the year with a hamate bone fracture, the 23-year-old catcher has struggled mightily at the plate since returning on April 25. He’s slashing just .236/.321/.306 with one home run and seven RBIs through Monday, looking nothing like the impact bat the organization hoped he’d grow into by Year 4.

Francisco Lindor credits Francisco Alvarez for getting his hit in the 8th inning:

"Getting that single was huge. It gave us a breath of, 'alright, here we go. It's going to happen.' He started that." pic.twitter.com/Co8tewKaDf
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 26, 2025

While his defense and rapport with the pitching staff are still strong, Alvarez’s offensive regression has become increasingly difficult to ignore. The advanced metrics back it up: a .279 xwOBA, .202 expected batting average, .325 xSLG, a strikeout rate near 30%, and a whiff rate approaching 39%. All are significantly below league average, and that’s not a 2025 problem, it’s been a career trend. His lifetime average sits at .222 with a sub-.300 OBP.

Francisco Alvarez or Luis Torrens?

Adding to the pressure is the play of backup catcher Luis Torrens. Luis Torrens has started to seize momentum, quietly but effectively. He’s hitting .267 overall and has gone 7-for-19 (.368) over his last seven games, racking up three extra-base hits. That matches Alvarez’s total for the entire season. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has rewarded Luis Torrens with back-to-back starts for the first time this season too.

Carlos Mendoza wasn't ready to say today that Luis Torrens will play more often, but the fact that Torrens is starting a second straight game is telling. He's constantly contributing for the Mets, including a slick tag in the first inning to complete a run-saving double play.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 25, 2025

Moreover, the Mets are winning when Torrens is behind the plate: they’re 21-10 in his starts. Factor in his elite 54% caught stealing rate, the best in the Majors, and the defensive gap narrows, if not flips.

Mendoza is still publicly backing Alvarez, calling the current catcher tandem “a luxury.” But the team dynamic is shifting. The longer Alvarez slumps and Torrens surges, the more complicated the Mets’ catching calculus becomes. For now, Mendoza is trying to give Alvarez space to work through it. He reportedly spoke with the young catcher over the weekend, urging him to take advantage of the recent breather and focus on reps in the cage.

But each at-bat is starting to feel heavier. So when Alvarez stepped up in the eighth inning on Memorial Day, mired in a 2-for-27 skid and fresh off two weak groundouts, the moment felt like more than a routine trip to the plate.

Facing White Sox lefty Cam Booser, Alvarez flicked a leadoff single into play, his only hit of the day, but one that sparked a game-tying rally. Luisangel Acuna pinch-ran and came around to score on a Juan Soto sac fly, and the Mets eventually walked it off in the ninth thanks to Francisco Lindor. After the game, Lindor pointed to Alvarez’s single as the spark they needed.

ALSO READ: This Is the Worst 50-Game Start in Juan Soto’s Career

It was just one hit. But for a slumping catcher fighting to keep his job, it might have been more than that. The Mets may not have a full-blown catcher battle yet, but if trends hold, they’ll have a decision on their hands soon enough.

Francisco Alvarez

Mets

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.