Alvarez isn't starting Saturday against the Blue Jays.
Alvarez is currently in the middle of an 0-for-10 stretch across his last three games, so he'll get a day off Saturday to regroup. Tomas Nido will take over behind the plate for New York and bat ninth.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Sitting out Wednesday
Rotowire
Alvarez is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's tilt versus the Phillies, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.
Alvarez had started six straight but will get a breather Wednesday. Tomas Nido will step in behind the plate, catching for starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Possible waiver wire pickups
Rotowire
Gary Sanchez has come and gone, and Francisco Alvarez is still standing (er, squatting), having seemingly secured the Mets starting catcher job once and for all. He's earned elite pitch framing readings and rave reviews from New York media outlets. More than anything, though, the 21-year-old has begun to live up to his potential at the plate, homering five times in his past eight games and batting .322 (19 for 59) with seven homers and a 1.166 OPS over his past 17. Really, his full-season numbers give him a look of a must-start catcher, and seeing as he was the No. 1 catcher prospect coming into the year, we should probably be regarding him higher than, say, Tyler Stephenson or William Contreras at this point.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Swats eighth homer
Rotowire
Alvarez went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in Sunday's 11-10 loss to the Rockies.
Alvarez was moved up to the two hole in the batting order for the first time Sunday, and he put an exclamation point on the Mets' six-run fourth inning. The homer was his fifth during his eight-game hitting streak, a span in which he's added 13 RBI while batting .400 (12-for-30). The young slugger is up to eight homers, 19 RBI, 14 runs scored and a .269/.327/.558 slash line through 33 contests this season.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Bats second versus lefty
Rotowire
Alvarez will start at catcher and bat second in Sunday's game against the Rockies.
Alvarez has hit near the bottom of the order for the majority of the season, but he'll climb into the two hole while the Mets face lefty Austin Gomber on Sunday. The 21-year-old backstop has swung the bat well as of late and is coming off a two-hit performance Saturday in which he slugged a three-run home run in the Mets' 10- 7 loss. If Alvarez continues to swing a hot stick, it's possible he'll earn more opportunities to hit near the top of the lineup versus right-handers too.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Stays hot Saturday
Rotowire
Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and a double in Saturday's 10-7 loss to the Rockies.
Alvarez has hit safely in his last seven games, going 11-for-25 (.440) with four homers and 10 RBI in that span. The catcher also has just one strikeout in that span, which came in Saturday's contest. It's been enough to earn him a starting role lately. Alvarez is slashing .273/.333/.545 with seven homers, 16 RBI, 13 runs scored and six doubles through 108 plate appearances.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Making strong case to stay
Rotowire
Alvarez continues to develop at a rapid pace in the majors, and the 21-year-old is making a strong case to stay with the Mets even when the team's other catchers get healthy, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.
Alvarez had a slow start at the plate after being called up in early April, but through 16 games in May he's slashing .271/.364/.604 with four doubles and four homers, and his work with the pitching staff and defensive chops behind the plate are also growing by leaps and bounds. He's currently being backed up by Gary Sanchez, but sometime in the next few weeks both Tomas Nido (vision issues) and Omar Narvaez (calf) figure to get healthy. Alvarez is the only one of the four with minor-league options remaining, but with the Mets finally beginning to meet expectations -- the team saw a five-game winning streak snapped Tuesday -- continuity and performance could well be prioritized ahead of organizational depth, keeping the youngster in the big leagues.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Not in lineup Tuesday
Rotowire
Alvarez is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cubs.
Gary Sanchez will get the start at catcher and bat ninth versus the Cubs and left-hander Drew Smyly. Mark Vientos is serving as the designated hitter and batting fifth.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Hits dramatic homer against Rays
Rotowire
Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Wednesday in an extra-inning win over Tampa Bay.
Alvarez grounded out to shortstop in each of his first three plate appearances, but he came through in the clutch in the ninth. With the Mets trailing 5-2 and down to their final out, the backstop blasted a 426-foot, three-run homer off Jason Adam to tie the score and send the contest to extra innings. The long ball was the fourth of the season for Alvarez, who slugged 28 homers between the majors and minors last season.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: On base three times Monday
Rotowire
Alvarez went 1-for-2 with two walks and a double in Monday's loss to the Nationals.
Hitting ninth against veteran southpaw Patrick Corbin, Alvarez drew multiple free passes in a game for just the second time in his brief big-league career. The 21-year-old backstop is having a fairly productive May so far, batting .257 (9-for-35) with four doubles, two homers, four RBI and four runs in 40 plate appearances, and he appears to be earning manager Buck Showalter's trust with his defensive work as well.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Sleeper hitters for Week 8 (May 15-21)
Rotowire
Alvarez appears to have taken over as the Mets' primary catcher, finally getting a day off Sunday after starting six straight, and the bat is waking up as a result. He went 6 for 20 with two homers and two doubles during that same six-game span.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Resting Saturday
Rotowire
Alvarez will sit Saturday against the Nationals.
With Tomas Nido (eye) joining Omar Narvaez (calf) on the injured list this week, Alvarez has handled a heavy workload behind the plate, starting six consecutive games. Michael Perez will take over Saturday.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Goes yard twice in loss
Rotowire
Alvarez went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Tuesday's 7-6 loss to the Reds.
He took Luke Weaver deep in both the third and sixth innings, giving the 21-year-old backstop his first career multi-homer game in the majors. Alvarez has gotten comfortable at the plate for the Mets after a sluggish couple of weeks following his promotion, and over his last 12 games he's batting .323 (10-for-31) with two doubles, three home runs, five RBI and six runs.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Sitting Friday
Rotowire
Alvarez isn't starting Friday against the Rockies.
Alvarez is batting .273 (3-for-11) over the last week, and he will get a day off Friday. While he sits, Tomas Nido will take over behind the plate and bat ninth.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Resting for Game 1 of twin bill
Rotowire
Alvarez is out of the lineup for the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Tigers, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
Alvarez had been behind the dish for three of the Mets' last four games, but he'll sit out the first half of the twin bill while Tomas Nido gets a turn to catch starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi. Expect Alvarez to re-enter the lineup for the second game to form a battery with Max Scherzer.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Exits as precaution
Rotowire
Alvarez exited Thursday's game against the Nationals after being hit in the head by two swings, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.
Alvarez exited the game in the ninth inning, though manager Buck Showalter said he checked out okay after the game. Alvarez's availability for Friday's game against Atlanta is currently unclear. Prior to departing, he went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Starting at catcher Thursday
Rotowire
Alvarez is starting at catcher and batting ninth Thursday against the Nationals.
Alvarez is just 5-for-31 (.161) with one home run in 31 plate appearances since his April 7 promotion from Triple-A Syracuse, but he is at least drawing more starts now over Tomas Nido. The 21-year-old has been in the Mets' lineup three of the last four games, including Thursday night's series finale versus Washington.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Gets another start at catcher
Rotowire
Alvarez is starting at catcher and batting ninth Tuesday against the Nationals.
Alvarez connected for his first major-league homer of the season in Sunday's series finale against the Giants and will be rewarded with a second straight start behind the dish as the Mets open a three-game set versus Washington. Tomas Nido is sitting.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Slugs first homer of season
Rotowire
Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's loss to the Giants.
His sixth-inning shot off Tyler Rogers tied the game at 4-4, but the Mets eventually came up short. The homer was Alvarez's first in eight games since his promotion, and the 21-year-old has begun to alternate starts behind the dish with Tomas Nido. Alvarez is batting just .148 (4-for-27) in the majors this year with a 0:9 BB:K, but with more consistent playing time, he could heat up -- three of his four hits have come in his last three starts.
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Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Out of starting lineup Thursday
Rotowire
Alvarez is not in the lineup Thursday night against the Giants.
Tomas Nido will catch and bat ninth with left-hander Sean Manaea on the mound for San Francisco. Alvarez has started just five of a possible 13 games since his promotion from Triple-A Syracuse on April 7.
