A month after he was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, former top prospect Francisco Alvarez is returning to the New York Mets.
The Mets recalled the 23-year-old catcher from Triple-A ahead of their matchup against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Monday. He is batting eighth as the starting catcher Monday night.
The Mets optioned catcher Hayden Senger to Syracuse in a corresponding move.
New York optioned Alvarez after the team's game June 21. At the time of his demotion, he was batting .236 with 3 home runs and 11 RBIs in 35 games. As a rookie in 2023, Alvarez belted 25 homers and hit .209 across 123 games.
Over the past month, however, Alvarez has shown notable improvements. Since joining Syracuse, he batted .299 with 11 home runs, including a long ball Sunday that was his third homer in three days and seventh in 19 at-bats.
According to the report, Alvarez's defense and framing -- which ranked in MLB's bottom 9%, according to Baseball Savant -- earned rave reviews from coaches and pitchers in Syracuse.
Alvarez was considered the No. 1 prospect in 2022, but wrist and hand injuries hampered him after his rookie season. Since debuting with the Mets in 2022, Alvarez has batted .223 with 40 home runs and 122 RBIs in 263 games.
The Mets stumbled out of the All-Star break, posting back-to-back home losses to the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend. New York avoided the series sweep Sunday, escaping with a 3-2 victory.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
