4) Francisco Alvarez
As poorly as Francisco Alvarez has played at times lately, there was a period when he was the original Grimace. The team won a lot of games early in the season whenever he played. And when he returned from the IL, they began to win even more. He, like Raley, went on the IL after playing in a game against the Dodgers on April 19. He’d return on June 11 for a Mets loss against the Miami Marlins. Then the team rattled off 7 straight victories in his appearances.
Alvarez has a good reputation behind the plate and pitchers love throwing to him. His loss for nearly two full months led to a couple of changes with the roster. Tomas Nido replaced him and for a time we had him paired alongside Omar Narvaez. It was a black hole in the lineup offensively. Defensively, Nido did well to at least stop runners from stealing. We were eventually introduced to Luis Torrens who did a little of everything well.
Alvarez remains a work in progress in all aspects. However, the mystery of what he could have added to the team in the time he was on the IL had a large impact on the season. His tremendously productive month saw him slash .375/.456/.667 in what appeared to be a breakout month which has sadly faded since.
A slump for Alvarez might’ve been inevitable as he struggled for a long period in 2023 as well. How many games could he have helped the Mets win in the dark ages of late May when the season seemed over?