Dream Mets starting lineup for the 2023 season

9) Dream NY Mets starting lineup: Francisco Alvarez batting ninth, C

The lineup rounds out with Francisco Alvarez behind the plate. I wasn’t going to give you Tomas Nido batting ninth—as far more realistic as that would be even if both of those catchers are on the Opening Day roster and James McCann is somewhere else.

The Mets appear cautious when it comes to asking Alvarez suit up behind the plate. They won’t have the same luxury next season. If he’s going to be with them, he’s going to have to be more than a DH—especially in a dream where Ohtani and Judge are on the roster.

Alvarez projects to be far more than a number nine hitter. In this lineup, it’s really the only place to put him unless we want to double-up on leadoff hitters. We could always move Marte to the bottom. However, we’d expect him to perform better early on in the season compared to the greener Alvarez.

Somehow, seeing Alvarez as the Opening Day catcher might be the biggest stretch of the imagination on this entire Mets lineup. Nido would probably need to have an injury for them to start Alvarez over him at the catcher spot.

I don’t want Nido being hurt—even if it’s not for real. Instead, Alvarez wins the Opening Day catcher gig because of how impressive he was in spring. And the Opening Day starting pitcher vouches for him. Jacob deGrom, back on a nice fat contract, demands Alvarez starts. What a twist!