Francisco Alvarez is now the number 1 prospect in baseball

For the first time in five years, the New York Mets have the top prospect in baseball in highly-touted catcher prospect Francisco Alvarez. With Riley Greene of the Detroit Tigers no longer a prospect having reached the service time number in the majors for the list, Alvarez takes over as the top prospect according to MLB.com’s pipeline charts.  

Although he is hitting just .118 in 11 games with Triple-A Syracuse, it is worth noting the anticipation the organization has for Alvarez, who turns 21 in November, when he finally makes his major league debut. 

Francisco Alvarez has Mets fans dreaming about the long-term future

Alvarez flexed his big bat potential in the first half, now he is learning how to catch and receive offspeed and breaking pitches, which is hard to find in the lower levels. And Alvarez had the opportunity to catch Cy Young winners on their rehab assignments already with Max Scherzer in Double-A at the end of June, and Jacob deGrom in Triple-A just two weeks ago. The trajectory the Mets are taking with Alvarez learning what it means to be a cornerstone player and that it takes to be great. 

Alvarez hitting .118 with Syracuse is proof that he needed a learning curve on his way to the big leagues, far away from a polished product ready for the show, furthered by the fact that he’s two years younger than anyone else on his minor league team.  

Yet, that same nugget on his youth and that he’s one level away from the majors at this age is why he’s the best prospect in baseball, as he tore up High-A and Double-A over the past season and a half. 

However, Alvarez clubbed his first Triple-A home run on Saturday for Syracuse (a tape-measure grand slam), where he finally got to show his International League competition that scouts have raved about the 70+ raw power and the overall player that scouts have tabbed on him for years.