From A to Zeile, once budding NY Mets star's failure to blossom baffles (and annoys)

The numbers aren’t atrocious if you blink fast enough. A .229 batting average and .316 OBP isn’t historically bad. Where Francisco Alvarez is losing New York Mets fans is the complete absence of power. Just 3 doubles and a pair of home runs this year has his slugging percentage below his OBP at only .305. He’s not the masher he was as a rookie in 2023 when he powered his way to a 25 home run campaign. Although it came with just a .209 batting average, he was undoubtedly a far more impactful hitter. You noticed him. You feared him. This hasn't been the case in 2025.

The story for Alvarez last year was how suddenly lost he became at the plate. This year, he seems to be wandering around in the woods just as much. Defensive guffaws this week only add to the unfortunate reality staring the Mets in the face: maybe Francisco Alvarez won’t be the star he looked like he’d become.

Let’s not pull the plug on Francisco Alvarez just yet, Mets fans

Not everyone is ready for the big leagues as quickly as their peers. Consider this with any Alvarez criticism: he’s 23. His major league debut on September 30, 2022 came at the ripe age of only 20. Clearly not ready then for regular big league action, Alvarez showed signs in 2023 of being exactly what Mets fans had hoped he could become.

Finding a permanent solution at the catcher spot has been a white whale for Mets fans for well over a decade. Travis d’Arnaud never reached his ceiling. Kevin Plawecki was well short of living up to his first-round selection. Perhaps even worse were the string of recent free agent signings such as Omar Narvaez, James McCann, and Wilson Ramos. The hunger for a catcher who is more than a seat filler exists because throughout the history of the Mets it’s something they’ve routinely had. Whether a high-level defender like Jerry Grote, Hall of fame slugger like Mike Piazza, or a mix of both like Gary Carter, it’s not a position fans accept at the bottom of the order going invisible.

Alvarez’s lack of a compass, at least as a hitter, came courtesy of Eric Chavez. The team’s hitting coach was critical of Alvarez’s powerful 2023 performance and unfortunately hasn’t been able to make him any better. In fact, the messaging seems to have made Alvarez almost irrelevant in the Mets lineup.

Across the league, everyone from Scout A alphabetically down to Todd Zeile seems to have some shared thoughts as to what’s eating Alvarez.

Every word rings true. Alvarez is trying too hard. He does have a lot of responsibilities. More than anything else, he wants to be the stud he was projected to become. Have the injuries played a role? It’s hard to discount.

Completely different expectations yet relevant to mention as a guide of sorts, Yadier Molina took until his third MLB season (age 24) to be even a competent hitter. Through three seasons in the majors, he was batting .238/.291/.342. In his age 24 season in 2007, Molina discovered how to hit and never seemed to stop (unfortunately) , possibly unlocked in the 2006 postseason when a pair of home runs against the Mets in the NLCS came as a surprise. After all, Molina hit only .216 in the regular season with 6 dingers all year.

The message here is how even the modern greats take some time to figure it out. The first step is figuring out exactly what’s missing and how to resolve it.