Subscribe
Follow Us
The New York Mets are planning to play catcher Francisco Alvarez less for the remainder of the season, according to Newsday. The Mets are “thinking Alvarez will play something like three of every five games the rest of the way,” the report said.
Alvarez, who is in his second MLB season, has already played more innings (711 2/3) and started more games (81) than he did all of last season.
“Sometimes because someone is young, they think they can play every inning and every pitch,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “You don't necessarily see things physically. You see concentration. You see the mental, emotional part of it. You get mentally and emotionally tired as much or more than you do physically.”
Alvarez, who is 21-years-old, is batting .223 this season with 21 home runs and 45 RBIs. His OPS (.757) is third on the Mets. He had surgery on his right ankle after the 2022 season, which Newsday said affected his offseason.
“You don't want to expose him to something that he hasn't done too abruptly,” Mets catching coach Glenn Sherlock said. “It's gotta be a gradual process, to have his body acclimate to that type of workload. His workload is still pretty substantial…He's done very well in handling that. But we want to be aware of where he's at, make sure that he's going OK, stays healthy and hopefully productive.”
Alvarez was quoted in the story and said that while he likes to work, he understands it is important to “be fresh.”
“I'm not going out there just to look strong,” Alvarez said. “I want to be fresh on the field. That's the biggest thing, being smart about the whole thing.”
